^ 


THE  ■[ 

>EYANOELICAL  RECORD,  2 


S 

AND 


WESTERN  REVIEW, 


.  II.]     SEPTEMBER 1813.     [No.  9. 


CONTENTS, 

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Fund    - 
r  Jjr.  D%i  .rmunt 

Presbytery 


£ 


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^  annum,  payable  ou  the  nixtn  num- 

K*  btr.  No  suusCipuou  received  iur  icss  uian  one  year. 


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WESTERN  BEVIEWrif't! 


Vol   I|.]         SEPTEMBER 1813.         [No.  9. 

ORIGIJ  OF  THE  RANKINITES  OF    KEN- 
TUCKY. 

IT  is  impossible  to  have  a  correct  view  of  the  cau- 
ses of  the  i-esent  state  of  religion  In  Kentucky,  wick. 
out  attendig  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  some  of 
the  preachis  who  first  visited  the  count*.    A  young 
country  is  <ke  a  young  mind — it  ma/be  moulded 
into  almost  Yny  shape  by  those  who  lave  it  under 
their  control    Wise  and  prudent  fathtts  and  reujii. 
ers,  generally  speaking,  raise  wise  andbrudent  ch"-, 
dren— wise  &d  prudent  founders  of  (e.v,H,fes  anL 
Colonies  in  l\e  manner,  generally  spring.  Itavc 
marks  of  theirVisdom  and  prudence  >r^  permanen- 
cv  and  extensivVutilitv  of  their  civ-  °r  religious  m- 
sututions.     It  iVith  extreme  |^.»e  arll%££  ? 
observe,  mat  the  present  state  ^rehg-u.  » xw tj,  a- 
mong  all  denominations  «n  Kcntuccy,  does  not  lead 
us  to  have  a  high  opinion  of  either  the  wisdom  or  the 
prudence  of  those  who  had  them  under  their  d.ree- 
£o„  in  the*  first  stages.     H*l  the  first  orgamzanon 
of  our  various  religious  socdja  bfn  any  thing  fake 
good,  it  is  scarcely  possible/'"  the 'nature  of  things, 
Satin  the  course  of  fife*  or   twenty  years    they 
should  nearly  all  be  in  tbf  Reseat  almost  anmhda- 

£  ASmong  those  who  hav  been  concerned  in  forming 
religious  societies  in  K'tucky,  the  Rev.  Adam  Ran- 
kin holds  a  distinguish  J  Place.  He  was  the  first  or 
second  of  the  Presb-cnan  order  who  settled  m  the 
country.     All  accou-3  also>  aSrse  ln  swunS»  *«  a 

V0L.II.  Mm 


*  i  S  Origin  of  the  Rankinites 

m'v  ■  favourable  opportunity  for  forming  permane. 
foneregatioDS  scarcely  ever  occurred.     ft  w»  a  rich 
soKe  settlers  generally  were  a  hardy  industrious 
;°ce-a  large  number  of  them  was  d.rectly  from  old 
se  tkd  congregations  in  Virginia-or  Pennsdvam;- 
ofl'ehndlaml  the  danger  to  wh.ch  they  were  ex- 
nosed  by  Indian  ravages  had  a  tendency  t<  preserve 
rahert  an  to  destroy  religious  ■  n.press.ms. 
Rnkin  settled  at  Lexington,  which  was  fnm  the  be- 
einning,  what  it  stillcontinues  to  be,  he  m  tropohs  of 
g"  sta?;_and  a  laree  and  respectable  congregation  . 
appears  to  have  been  immediately  lormec 

The  apostle  James  has  said,  that  "wJere  envying 

iidfetrife  are,there  are  confusion  an  devegy  evil  work: 

Acording  to  this  rule  we  are  not  to  expe-t  much  good 

H  our  reviev  of  religion,  as  connected  vith  the  mm- 

dons  of  iMr.  Rankin— nil  men  mus  acknowledge 

;ha?  tv*  hae  icen  a  man  of  war  from  h's  youth.  He 
ettlcd  atTex;ngt0n  in  the  year  ir84^r  85.  At  what 
time  any  of  \c  brethren  settled  on  tfc  same  side  of 
ihe  Kentucky \^-er  We  cannot  exactb  ascertain.  This 
much,  only,  is  cewm — tnat  he  ne^er  was  on  good 
<ovme  with  any  oi\hem,  and  that  in  October  1T89, 
sundry  papers  \>c-re  p^ua^nteJ.  t0  the  Presbytery  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  (fdntai^ing  aiaong  other 
things  a  charge  of  his  having  been  in  theiiabitrof  slan- 
dering his  brethren. 

In  a  new  country,  wfcre  courts'of  every  kind  are 
only  forming — ard  wh\e  a  majority  of  the  members 
are  not  only  in  a  great  ntasure  strangers  to  one  ano- 
ther, but  perhaps,  ai=o,  whout  much  experience  in 
judicial  proceedings,  we  \e  not  to  expect  all  their 
proceedings  marked  with  tW  "regularity  and  form" 
which  under  other  circumstves  we  consider  indis- 
pensable.    In  the  pamphletsVefore  USj  consequent- 

*  These  pamphlets  are  three—      \ 

1.  A  narrative  of  the  process— by  -Rankin. 

2.  d.uo.  by  Transylvania  Fres^^, 

3.  Rcplv— to  the  above,  by  A  Ranki 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites.  419 

]y,  which  propose  to  give  us  an  account  of  the  process 
which  was  carried  on  in  the  Transylvania  Presbytery 
against  Mr.  Rankin,  we  find  much  matter  both  for 
and  against  him,  which  is  not  very  closely  connected 
with  the  real  merits  of  the  controversy.  After  a  num- 
ber of  preparatory  steps,  in  which  time  Mr.  Rankin 
made  a  trip  to  Lpndon — the  trial  at  last  came  o 
April  1 7$~2.  The  charges  exhibited  against  him  may 
we  tQink  be  all  reduced  to  two. 

1.  His  having  said   on  different  occasions,  and  to 
different  persons,  "lhat  on  some   extraordinary  occa- 
sions he  received  special  direction  from  God  thrc 
the  medium  of  dreams" — and 

2.  That  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  charging  all  his 
brethren  who  used  Watts's  Psalms,  with  deism  and 
blasphemy;  and  of  debarring  from  the  table  of  the 
Lord  all  who  acquiesced  in  Watts's  Psalms. 

The  proof  by  which  the  first  of  these  charges  was 
supported,  is  contained  in  the  following  depositions. 

"jrames  Cra-cford,  deponent,  saith,  That  he  invited  Mr.  Rar.km 
to  assist  him  in  administering  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per; that  on  the  Friday  before  the  sacrament,  Mr.  Rankin  gave 
him  to  know,  that  he  could  not  come  to  the  sacrament,  if  Dr. 
Watt's  psalms  ar.d  hymns  were  used,  he  could  not  join  in  the 
communion.  Said  deponent  saith,  that  he  returned  for  answer, 
that  it  was  the  mind  of  the  session:  that  the  request  could  not  be 
complied  with;  and  accordingly  Mr.  Rankin  did  not  attend  the 
sacrament.  In  conversation  some  time  after,  in  Lexington,  said 
deponent  saith,  that  Mr.  Rankin  told  him  that  having  prayed  for 
direction,  it  was  made  known  to  him  in  a  dream  X1  -he  interpreta- 
tion of  which  was  made  known  to  him  with  the  fullest  certainty 
when  he  awoke )  that  he  should  not  attend  the  sacrament  of  the 
supper:  that  he  saw  in  his  dream  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
supper  administered  by  said  deponent,  and  the  great  or  whole 
dependanca  was  laid  on  Watts'  psalms,  that  Watts'  hymns  were 
included  in  the  representation  of  tne  psalms;  that  in  ail  matters 
of  consequence,  he  was  under  an  extraordinary  diviae  dire 
that  in  consequence  of  such  direction  he  moved  to  and  settled  in 
this  country.  The  deponent  saith,  he  is  not  to  be  understood,  ss 
affirming  the  above  as  literally  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Rankinj  but 
that  his  words  fully  communicated  the  same  ideas  with  the  a- 
bove.    Said  deponent  farther  sakh,  that  Mr%  Rankin  gave  him  to 


420  Origin  of  the  Rankinites. 

know  that  the  use  of  Dr.  Watts'  psalms  would  be  laid  aside  in  the 
church;  the  knowledge  of  this,  he  obtained  in  the  same  extraor- 
dinary way  as  above.-  that  being"  asked  by  the  deponent,  when 
this  should  come  to  pass,  he  would  not  fix  the  time." 

"/  David  Rice  do  testify ,  That  when  at  Mr.  Rankin's  on  a  cer* 
fain  occasion,  he  told  me,  that  in  all  matters  of  importance  in 
which  he  was  at  a  loss  to  know  his  duty,  he  was  directed  in  his 
dreams;  that  in  such  cases  he  prayed  the  Almighty  for  direction 
in  this  way;  that  after  prayer  he  dreamed,  and  was  directed  in 
his  dreams,  as  to  the  manner  of  his  request;  that  as  he  was  a  weak 
man,  God  descended  to  give  him  instruction  in  tiiis  way.  He  in- 
formed me  of  several  instances  of  his  being  thus  directed,  viz. 
That  a  certain  debate,  which  happened  in  Presbytery,  had  been 
made  known  to  him  before  hand;  that  once  in  the  old  settlement.. 
finding  himself  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  he  ought  to  sing  Watts* 
psufais  or  hymns,  he  prayed  for  direction  in  that  matter;  and  had 
his  duty  made  known  to  him  in  a  dream;  that  in  the  same  way  he 
was  informed,  that  a  certain  candidate  for  the  gospel  ministry, 
ought  not  to  proceed  in  his  trials,-  of  which  candidate,  he  had  the 
evening  before  his  dream,  expressed  his  very  good  opinion,  and 
great  desire  that  he  should  proceed-  he  told  me  also  that  he  was 
directed  in  his  dream  to  inform  me,  that  he  was  thus  directed  in 
his  dreams.  I  was  sensibly  affected  by  this  information,  and 
warned  Mr.  Rankin  of  the  dangerous  consequences;  that  I  appre- 
hended he  was  on  dang-erous  ground,  subject  to  be  led  into  great 
errors  and  delusions.  On  which  he  said,  he  knew  that  those  who 
had  never  experienced  it,  could  form  no  judgment  about  it,  I 
then  desisted  from  warning  him  of  the  danger  he  was  in;  but  ex- 
pressed my  great  disapprobation  of  men's  relying  on  their  dreams 
for  direction,  in  matters  respecting  sin  and  duty-  Before  we  part- 
ed, he  requested  me  three  or  four  times,  that  I  would  not  divulge 
what  he  had  told  me.  As  soon  as  he  made  this  request,  it  struck 
my  mind,  that  I  might  probably  see  the  day,  when  it  would  be 
my  duty  to  make  it  known;  yet,  as  it  was  committed  to  me  in  the 
confidence  of  friendship,  I  resolved  to  keep  the  secret,  until  I 
should  think  myself  called  in  duty  to  divulge  it.  To  me  it  did  not 
appear  that  we  should  long  hold  communion,  and  act  harmoni- 
ously together,  while  we  had  such  different  rules  of  direction,  as 
the  sacred  scriptures,  and  night  visions." 

Robert  Steele,  Robert  Patterson,  John  Maxwell 
and  James  Trotter,  members  of*  Mr.  Rankin's  con- 
gregation, also  declared  on  oath — "that  to  them  indi- 
vidually, or  in  their  presence,  and  with  respect  too- 
ther matters  distinct  from  those  mentioned  in  the  de- 
positions of  Crawford  and  Rice,  Mr.  Rankin  had 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites.  421 

said — that  on  some  occasions  he  was  favoured  with 
something  which  they  understood  to  be  "special  rev- 
elation." 

This  charge  Mr.  Rankin  has  uniformly  denied. 
He  has  even  said  in  print,  that  it  was  not  so  much  as 
proved  against  him.  His  proof,  however,  that  it  was 
not  proved  against  him,  is  just  this:  t(Hc  is  ready  to 
swear  tha:  he  never  had  any  such  conversations  as 
are  mentioned  in  their  depositions,  with  Crawford 
and  Rice — they  consequently  must  be  perjured."  (Re- 
ply, page  33.  Narrative,  page  49.)  John  Maxwell 
was  not  positive,  that  in  the  conversation  of  which  he 
testified  Mr.  Rankin  used  the  word  revealed,  though' 
he  is  certain  that  it  was  a  word  to  that  amount.  Mr. 
Rankin  is  also  ready  to  swear  that  he  never  had  any 
such  conversation  with  Mr.  Maxwell.  (Narrative, 
page  #i.)  Patterson  was  a  party  concerned  in  the 
affair  concerning  which  he  gave  testimony,  (page  43 
and  44  Narrative,)  and  Robert  Steel  must  have  been 
mistaken,  as  in  the  conversation  to  which  he  bears 
testimony,  Mr.  Rankin  had  no  intention  of  commu- 
nicating such  ideas.    (Narrative,  page  39) 

We  consider  it  our  duty  to  add — "that  the  writer 
of  this  article  thinks  (he  may  be  mistaken)  that  Mr^ 
Rankin  has  oh  more  occasions  than  one*  communi- 
cated to  him  the  idea — ^that  on  certain  occasions  Mr. 
Rankin  is  some  way  or  other  infallibly  directed." 
And  we  have  nearly  all  the  evidence  in  the  world, 
that  some  of  Mr.  Rankin's  bosom  friends  at  this  mo» 
ment,  as  confidently  believe  that  he  on  some  occa- 
sions is  infallible^  as  ever  the  devotees  of  the  Romish 
church  believed  in  the  infallibility  of  their  head. 

*  "With  respect  to  one  of  these  occasions,  the  writer  thinks 
he  cannot  possibly  be  mistaken.  The  amount  of  what  Mr.  Rankin  on 
that  occasion  said,  both  in  conversation  and  prayer,  was— ''That 
the  Transylvania  University  was  cursed  of  God,  and  would  never 
prosper — that  he  had  often  said  so,  and  the  Lord  would  not  let 
the  words  of  His  servant  fall  to  the  ground" 

Voh  ii,  M  m  % 


422 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites. 


I 


To  the  second  charge,  viz.  his  having  been  in  the 
habit  of  charging  all  who  used  Watts'  Psalms  with 
deism  and  blasphemy,  Mr.  Rankin  has  from  the  be- 
ginning in  substance  filead  guilty.  In  the  account 
■which  he  himself  gives  of  the  process,  we  find  these 
words — 

1  Naw  I  affirm,  that  far  any  to  say,  that  any  thing  dictated  by 
the  spirit  of  God,  in  the  old  testameut,  is  opposite  to  the  spirit  of 
the  new,  is  blasphemous— for  both  testaments  were  dictated  by 
the  same  spirit,  and  cannf»t  be  opposite  to  each  other.  Nothing 
is  a  stronger  supportfor  deism,  than  to  set  the  wordot  God  at  odds 
against  Itself.  To  break  the  harmony  of  the  scriptures,  is,  to  re- 
proach them — and  to  reproach  the  word  of  God,  is  to  blaspheme 
it — and  all  such  ignorant  and  bold  blasphemers,  and  reviiers  of 
the  word  of  God,  are  justly  condemned  by  it:  and  so  had  no  right 
of  admission  to  the  Lord's  table."     Page  26. 

"From  what  has  been  said,  the  following  conclusion  is  self-ev- 
ident.- that  as  Br.  Watts,  has  assumed  the  liberty  of  dictating 
what  men  shall  actually  and  audibly  say  to  God.  in  their  praises, 
opposing  his  precepts  to  divine  authority,  and  preferring  his  com- 
positions to  the  inspired  oracles,  which  are  the  alone  objects  of 
saving  faith — surely  I  wasf  justifiable  in  saying,  such  sentiments 
partake  of  the  heresy  of  those  who  deny  revealed  religion,  and 
therefore  deistical.  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God — 
andhethatdoubteth  is  damned:  bat  human  compositions  are  not 
the  proper  grounds  for  a  divine  faith,  and  ought  never  to  be  sub- 
(Stituted  in  the  place  of  the  infallible  word.  And  for  any  man,  or 
set  of  men,  to  treat  such  a  precious  portion  of  it  as  David's  psalms 
are,  with  reproach  and  contempt  in  saying  "except  four  or  five 
and  twenty  select  pieces,  a  wise  man  would  not  condescend  to 
make  use  of" — is  certainly  an  indignity  done  to  the  words  of  truth 
*nd  soberness  which  cannot  be  too  severely  censured."  Page  34. 

It  is  of  importance  to  ascertain  here,  what  was  the 
true  state  of  the  question,  betwixt  Mr.  Rankin  and 
his  brethren.  Mr.  Rankin  has  uniformly  said,  that 
the  true  state  of  the  question  was,  "Is  it  warrantable 
to  use  in  public  worship  any  other  psalms,  or  songs, 
than  a  close  translation  of  the  book  of  psalms  in  the 
eld  testament" — his  brethren  have  as  uniformly  stated 
that  this  was  not  the  question.  In  their  publication 
they  say, 

"Though  there  was  much  said  in  the  course  of  Mr.  Ranking 
boet  Dr.  Watts,  ani  his  imitation  of  the  psalms,  it  was  not 


i    J 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites.  423 

because  he  thought  differently  from  his  brethren  on  this  subject, 
that  he  was  tried  and  censured.  It  is  hereby  declared  that  his 
particular  sentiments  merely  in  the  use  of  psalmody,  were  never 
considered  as  any  ground  of  censure,  or  sufficient  cause  of  aliena- 
tion or  affection.- "he  was  censured  for  unchristian  and  uncharitable 
reflections  on  his  brethren,  for  their  use  of  Dr.  Watts'  psalms 
and  hymns,  his  charging  them  on  this  account,  with  deism,  blas- 
phemy, &c,  and  that  after  he  had  agreed  with  some  of  them  to 
exercise  mutual  forbearance. 

"Those  who  spread  contrary  reports,  cannot  produce  a  sing'e 
evidence  for  it,  and  those  who  believe  it,  do  it  on  the  most  unwar- 
rantable foundation. **  Page  15. 

Now  we  must  acknowledge,  that  after  having  occa- 
sionally examined  the  whole  of  this  matter  for  nearly 
ten  years,  with  all  the  patience  we  possess,  and  that 
too  frequently  when  all  our  prepossions  were  in  fa- 
favour  of  Mr.  Rankin,,  we  have  uniformly  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  presbytery's  statement  is  cor- 
rect— and  that  Mr.  Rankin's  statement  of  the  ques- 
tion is  a  gross  mistake.     Our  reasons  are  these: 

1.  The  synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  at 
that  time  the  supreme  court  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  north  America,  had  some  considerable  time  before 
this  controversy,  made  the  subject  of  psalmody  a 
matter  of  mutual  forbearance.  When  they  allowed 
the  use  of  Watts'  psalms  and  hymns,  they  did  not 
prohibit  the  use  of  the  old  version — on  the  contrary, 
though  we  have  not  the  act  by  us,  yet  we  are  pretty 
confident  that  in  that  act  it  was  distinctly  intimated, 
that  the  new  psalms  were  only  to  be  introduced  where 
it  could  be  done  with  general  edification.  Now,  this 
being  the  fact,  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  must 
have  been  very  stupified,  or  very  wicked  indeed,  to 
talk  of  censuring  a  man  or  a  congregation,  who  from 
conscientious  principles  still  used  the  old  psalms. 

2.  There  are  a  considerable  number  of  congrega- 
tions in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  who  are 
still  under  the  authority  of  the  general  assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  church— and  who  have  not  to  this 
day  used  any  psalms  but  the  old  version.     How  has 


424 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites. 


it  happened  that  these  have  not  been  censured?  Nor 
even  so  much  as  disturbed  by  their  brethren  who  have 
introduced  the  new? 

3.  The  writer  of  this  article  has,  as  has  already 
been  intimated,been  nearly  ten  years  in  this  country — 
he  is  from  principle  attached  to  what  is  called  scrip- 
tural psalmody — he  has  never  used  any  other  either 
in  public  or  in  private  since  he  came  to  Kentucky — 
yet  he  has  had  a  great  deal  of  religious  intercourse, 
or,  if  you  will,  communion,  both  in  public  and  private, 
both  with  ministers  and  people  of  the  general  assem- 
bly presbyterians — and  has  never  found  any  difficulty 
in  using  his  own  and  his  church's  psalms.  Some  o- 
ther  thing  then,  than  the  mere  article  of  psalmody  was 
the  real  cause  of  Mr.  Kan  kin's  quarreling  with  his 
former  brethren.  His  great  zeal  on  this  article  has 
all  along  been  nothing  but  a  blind. 

In  April,  17  92,  as  has  been  already  said,  Mr.  Ran- 
kin's trial,  before  the  Trannsylvania  Presbytery,  came 
on;  and  after  two  day's  hearing  and  arguing  the  case, 
the  Presbytery  voted  first — "that  Mr.  Rankin  was 
censurable,  without  saying  what  the  censure  should 
be."  Mr.  Rankin  being  called  in,  and  their  decision 
made  known  to  him,  he,  as  the  New  Light  brethren 
have  since  done  in  a  similar  case,  verbally  protested 
against  their  proceedings,  and  declared  that  he  would 
be  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Trannsylvania  Presby- 
tery; and  so  left  the  house.  The  Presbytery  then 
suspended  him  from  the  exercise  of  the  ministerial 
functions,  till  next  stated  session.  At  their  next  ses- 
sion, which  was  in  October  of  the  same  year,  authen- 
tic information  was  received,  "that  Mr.  Rankin  had 
actually  separated  himself  from  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  was  active  in  forming  separate  societies." 
They,  therefore,  not  merely  for  the  things  proved 
against  him  at  last  meeting,  but  also  for  his  schisma- 
tical  proceedings,  deposed  hims  in  due  fcrm,.from  the 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites.  425 

office  of  the  holy  ministry,  and  declared  his  pastoral 
charge  vacant.* 

Whatever  others  may  think  or  say,  we  must  give 
it  as  our  opinion,  that  Mr.  Rankin  was  lawfully  sus- 
pended, and  afterwards  lawfuly  deposed,  by  a  regular 
court  of  Christ.  The  general  principles  which  we 
have  already  explained  and  applied  to  another  case, 
will  apply  here  (See  E.  Record,  vol.  II.  page  82). 
So  far  as  church  government  and  good  order  are  con- 
cerned, there  is  no  difference  betwixt  Mr.  Rankin's 
case,  and  the  case  of  Marshall  and  others. 

*  The  severity  of  Presbytery  in  this  case  has  been  a  most  po- 
pular subject  of  declamation.  There  was,  no  doubt,  much  un- 
christian heat  manifested,  both  within  and  without  doors,  and  by 
the  partizans  of  each  side;  but  that  the  judicial  proceedings  of 
Presbytery  were  marked  witk  severity,  we  have  no  evidence. 
The  charges  exhibited  against  Mr.  Rankin  were  such  that  no 
court,  which  had  any  regard  to  its  own  character,  or  to  the  cha- 
racter of  its  membersj  could  pass  without  notice.  The  proof  in 
support  of  the  charges  was  direct  and  positive,  and  must  be  con- 
vincing, unless  we  admit  the  idea  that  all  the  witnesses  perjured 
themselves.  V/hen  the  case  had  been  fully  heard,  the  Presbytery 
voted  only  that  Mr.  Rankin  was  censurable — the  censure,  whether 
it  should  be  an  admonition  or  rebuke,  or  merely  requiring  a  pro- 
mise of  more  caution  in  time  to  come,  was  left  as  an  object  ot  fu- 
ture inquiry.  When  Mr.  Rankin  had  declared  that  he  would 
make  no  acknowledgment — nay,  that  he  was  determined  to  leave 
them — the  very  least  that  could  be  done  was  to  suspend  him  till  the 
next  session.  Besides  this  plain  statement  of  matter  of  fact, 
it  may  be  of  use  to  attend  to  the  general  character  of  the  general 
assembly  Presbyterian  courts.  An  accommodating  spirit,  aproach- 
ing  to  blamable  laxness  in  the  exercise  o%-hurch  discipline,  is  the 
general  character,  rather  than  a  dispositi6n  to  exercise  undue  se- 
verity. This  very  Trannsylvania  Presbytery  has,  in  all  other  ca- 
ses, borne,  and  borne,  and  accommodated,  till  the  question  as- 
sumed the  same  shape  wHch  it  assumed  when  Mr.  Rankin  slipt 
away  from  them;  viz.  Shall  the  Presbytery  or  the  culprit  rule?  In 
his  reply,  page  31,  Mr.  Rankin  quotes  a  declaration  of  Mr.  Craw- 
ford— "that  he  should  not  have  been  suspended,  had  he  not  pro- 
tested." And,  as  usual,  twists  it,  to  mean  something  very  differ- 
ent from  what  it  carries.  The  meaning  of  it  certainly  is,  "that  if 
Mr.  Rankin  had  manifested  any  thing  like  an  accommodating  spi- 
rit, something  less  than  suspension  would  have  satisfied  Presby- 
tery." 


426  Origin  of  the  Rankinites. 

The  manner  in  which  Mr.  Rankin  has  conducted 
himself,  as  a  public  character,  since  he  was  separated 
from  his  former  connections;  will  be  the  subject  of  a 
subsequent  paper.  We  shall  conclude,  at  this  time, 
by  calling  the  attention  of  our  readers,  and,  if  possi- 
ble, the  attention  of  all  the  religious  people  in  Ken- 
tucky, to  our  introductory  remark:  viz.  the  influence 
which  these  things,  now  stated,  have  had  on  fhe  pre- 
sent state  of  religion  among  us. 

Fathers  Rice,  Crawford,  and  Rankin,  are  the  lead- 
ers of  the  people.  They  are  to  form  a  christian 
church,  and  have,  to  all  appearance,  a  fair  opportuni- 
ty of  forming  a  permanent  church  in  Kentucky.  They 
scarcely  begin  to  act  till  it  is  evident  they  have  no 
confidence  in  each  other.  It  gets  from  bad  to  worse: 
Rankin  at  last  renounces  all  connection  with  the  o- 
ther  two,  and  the  rest  of  their  brethren. — Nay,  open- 
ly charges  them  with  perjury,  and  almost  every  thing 
which  is  bad,  and  draws  along  with  him  a  number  of 
people.  What  are  the  ignorant — what  are  the  unbe- 
lievers— what  are  even  good  serious  people  to  think 
of  these  things?  There  is  scarcely  a  congregation 
formed,  or  about  to  be  formed,  which  is  not  convul- 
sed by  the  contending  parties.  Woe  be  to  that  man 
who  is  the  cause  of  these  offences.  Verily,  the  blood 
of  generations  is  chargable  on  his  guilty  head. 

The  controversy  being  begun,  it  is  easily  carried  on; 
all  religion  in  fact  consists  in  it.  Reading  the  bi- 
ble, praying  in  the  family,  and  bringing  up  children 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  are  but 
subordinate  matters.  The  man  who  can  dispute  best 
is  the  hero  of  the  day — yet  the  subject  of  dispute  is  a 
matter  no  way  connected  with  either  their  own  sal- 
vation or  the  salvation  of  their  children.  The  whole 
question  is — Is  Mr.  Rankin  to  be  believed  in  those 
things  in  which  he  flatly  gives  the  lie  to  the  Trannsyl- 
vania    Presbytery?     In   maintaining  the   affirmative 


Origin  of  the  Rankinites.  427 

6v  negative  of  this  question,  thousands  of  stories  are 
raked  up  and  handed  about,  and  this  is  contending 
earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

This  is  not  all.  Perjury,  or  at  least  rash  and  unne- 
cessary swearing,  becomes  a  necessarv  part  of  the 
good  work — and  God's  courts  are  to  be  degraded  as 
the  instruments.  We  find,  consequently,  that  in  Oc- 
tober 1793,  a  committee  of  what  is  now  the  Associate 
Reformed  Presbytery  of  Monongahela,  met  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bourbon,  and  before  that  commit- 
tee a  number  of  good  and  respectable  men  are  brought 
to  contradict  by  their  statements  on  oath,certain  state- 
ments, which  the  Trannsylvania  Presbytery  had  made 
in  their  publication.  This  was  not  a  fair  and  honest 
way  of  doing  business. — 1st.  The  members  off  this 
committee  were  strangers  in  the  country,  and  were 
er.sily  kept  from  having  any  intercourse  with  any  but 
Mr.  Rankin  and  his  friends. — 2nd.  None  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Transylvania  Presbytery  were  present  to 
cross  examine  these  witnesses,  or  to  give  their  way  of 
lg  the  story. — 3rd.  All  these  witnesses  had  al- 
ready publicly  pledged  themselves  to  support  Mr. 
Rankin — the  most  of  them  had  at  least  for  a  year 
and  upwards  been  keenly  engaged  in  supporting  his 
side  of  the  controversy. — and,  4th.  All  these  witnes- 
ses are  made  to  swear  about  things,  concerning  which 
the  spectators  of  the  proceedings  of  any  court,  espe- 
cially of  an  ecclesiastical  court,  may  be  very  easily  de- 
ceived.    Let  us  examine  a  few  of  these  statements. 

The  first  in  order  is — Seven  men  give  their  oath — 
"that  in  the  Transylvania  Presbytery,  April  1792, 
Mr.  Crawiord  moved  and  the  Presbytery  agreed, 
that  all  the  charges  exhibited  against  Mr.  Rankin 
should  be  comprehended  in  two,  of  which  what  he 
had  said  against  Dr.  Watts's  Psalmody  was  one." 
(Reply,  by  Rankin,  p.  14.)  From  this  deposition  Mr. 
Rankin  thinks  he  proves  that  the  main  point  to  be 


428  Origin  of  the  Rankimtes. 

be  debated  in  Presbytery  was  the  unwarrantableness 
and  danger  of  adopting  any  human  form  of  psalmo- 

f  dyf*    But  did  these  witnesses  see  Mr.    Crawford's 

motion  in  writing?  or  are  thev  even  positive  that 
these  were  the  very  words,  nothing  more,  or  nothing 

;.  less,  which  were  in  the  motion?   It  is  certain  it  was  a 

moiion  concerning  Watt's  psalms  and  Mr.  Rankin — 
but  this  is  all  that  is  certain  from  this  deposition.  It 
is  in  fact  all  which  men  under  their  circumstances 
could  testify.  We  may  also  suggest  by  the  by — "that 
the  public  had  even  no  evidence  that  these  men  sup- 
ported by  their  oaths,  what  they  are  said  in  Mr.  Ran- 
kin's reply  to  have  sworn  to.  Their  depositions  are 
not  given  in  form,  and  certainly  not  in  the  very  words 
to  which  they  individually  swore. 

Again — No  less  than  sixteen  witnesses  are 
brought  forward  to  swear,  that  about  the  time  Mr. 
Crawford  gave  his  depositions  in  Presbytery,  as  well 
as  at  other  times  during  the  trial,  he  evidently  discov- 
ered symptoms  of  great  anger.  (Reply,  p.  20.)  And 
from  this  state  of  Mr.  Crawford's  mind,  Mr.  Rankin 
in  both  his  pamphlets  argues  that  Mr.  Crawford's 
testimony  is  not  to  be  relied  on.  Now,  every  per- 
son who  has  ever  taken  any  share  in  debates  in  church 
courts,  knows  that  warmth  of  expression  and  ges- 
ture are  not  always  in  these  cases  the  symptoms  of 
what  in  common  conversation  we  call  anger.  And 
after  all,  what  was  the  reason,  the  necessity,  of  cal- 
ling for  men's  oaths,  about  a  fact  of  the  kind.  If  it 
is  to  operate  on  one  side,  it  will  operate  just  as  much 
on  the  other.  Mr.  Rankin's  own  ivord,  we  are  bold 
to  say,  never  was  doubted,  and  never  will  be  doubted, 
that  there  was  very  considcrble  heat  manifested,  both 

*  Let  it  not  be  said,  "that  we,  as  well  as  the  Trannsylvania 
Presbytery,  are  afraid  of  coming  to  the  main  question  on  Psalmo- 
dy." Our  mind  on  that  subject  is  made  up,  and  if  we  live,  we 
shall,  in  its  proper  place,  give  a  fair  and  full  statement  of  the  con- 
troversy. As  editors  of  a  v?ork  intended  for  general  use,  we  know 
no  man,  nor  party— but  the  truth. 


Origin  of  the  ttankinites.  429 

by  himself  and  his  adversaries,  during  his  memorable 
trial. 

Fifteen  witnesses  are  next  brought  forward  u> 
prove,  (page  21)  "that  Mr.  Rankin  was  thejffil  who 
moved,  in  Presbytery,  that  Mr.  Crawforu  should  be 
sworn  to  tell  all  he  knew  of  Mr.  Rankin."  And  here 
the  Presbytery  and  Mr.  Rankin  are  at  issue  for  once; 
"for  they,  in  their  pamphlet,  assert,  and  give  some 
pretty  strong  reasons  for  the  assertion,  that  so  tar 
from  moving  that  Mr.  Crawford's  deposition  should 
be  taken,  Mr.  Ronkin  opposed  it  to  his  utmost;  and 
that  it  was  not  taken  till  a  vote  was  taken  on  the  sub- 
ject."*    But,  be  this  as  it  may,  it'is  just  nothing  as  to 

*  In  his  first  pamphlet,  page  46,  Mr.  Rankin  compla'ns  bitterly 
that  Presbytery,  by  a  vote  of  the  majority,  admitted  Mr.  Craw- 
ford to  be  at  one  and  the  same  time,  an  accuser,  a  witness,  and  a 
judge-  A  vote,  consequently,  was  taken,  in  some  form  or  other, 
respecting  Mr.  Crawford.  *'The  process  was  evidently  carried 
on  on  the  ground  of  a  fama  clamosa."  There  was  properly  then 
no  accuser,  and  no  vote  could  have  been  taken  concerning  Mr« 
Crawford,  on  this  head.  The  vote,  then,  must  have  been,  Shall 
Mr  Crawford's  deposition  be  taker.?  or,  Shall  Mr.  Crawford, 
af  er  he  has  been  admitted  as  a  witness.,  still  keep  his  seat  as  a 
member  of  the  court  and  a  judge?  If  it  was  in  the  first  form,  it  is 
pretty  strong  proof  that  Mr.  Rankin  was  opposed  to  its  being  ta- 
ken. If  it  w^s  in  the  last  form,  it  certainly  was  unprecedented 
in  both  civil  and  ecclesiastic  courts. 

Mr.  Rankin,  in  the  sentence  just  alluded  to,  complains  also, 
■'that  Presbytery  deposed  him  from  all  his  ministerial  offices  for* 
ever,  vitkoitiany  liberty  of  any  appeals  A  most  tyrannical  Presby- 
tery indeed!  But  how  is  the  fact?  From  the  very  nature  of  Pres- 
byterial  government,  this  wss  impossible;  as  the  injured  person 
may  always  have  an  appeal  from  the  inferior  to  the  superior  court. 
And  Presbytery,  in  their  publication,  very  justly  complains,  "that 
Mr.  Rankin  did  not,  when  he  supposed  he  was  injured,  appeal  to 
Synod."  But  it  did  not  suit  Mr.  Rankin  to  have  the  matter  any 
farther  investigated  in  an  orderly  court.  And  the  declaration, 
that  he  was  condemned  without  the  liberty  of  en  appeal,  is  only 
one  of  the  many  gross  falsehoods  which  he  hath  printed  and  circu- 
lated, and  is  a  pretty  good  specimen  of  the  manner  in  wfcich  he 
hath  conducted  all  hu  wars.  Hence  we  cannot,  as  some  do.  c*ll 
his  wars  the  •uatt  efthe  Lord,  and  his  cause  the  cavse  cf  G*d- 
Non  tali  auxilic,  nee  defencoribus  istiff 
Jehovah  agct. 

Vol.  ii.  Nn 


430  Origin  of  the  Rankinites. 

the  main  question.  It  makes  no  matter  who  was  the 
fir3t  mover.  The  question  is,  What  is  the  amount 
of  the  deposition  when  taken?  It  speaks  for  itself; 
and  Mr.  Crawford's  cnaracter,  as  a  man  of  truth, 
stcod,  while  he  lived,  as  fair  as  ever  Mr.  Rankin's 
did. 

But  what  is  the  natural  tendency  of  encouraging 
men  solemnly  to  swear  to  such  points,  and  under 
such  circumstances?  It  is  certainly  very  opposite  to 
the  scriptural  design  of  an  oath— the  putting  an  end 
to  controversy.  Such  swearing  can  have  no  other 
tendency  but  to  blind  good,  honest  men,  and  make 
them,  again,  the  instruments  of  blinding  and  ensnar? 
ing  their  friends.  Instead  of  having  a  tendency  to 
put  an  end  to  strife,  it  just  makes  a  number  of  good, 
honest  men,  who  formerly  lived  as  christians  and 
friends,  sworn  enemies  to  one  another.  And  if  there 
are  any  of  these  witnesses  already  under  the  influ- 
ence of  dishonest  principles,  it  is  just  the  establish- 
ment of  iniquity  by  law.  It  is  the  beginning  of  pre- 
varication, and  of  every  thing  which  is  contrary  to 
sincerity.  Hence  it  is  no  difficult  matter  to  find  men 
who  have  got  so  into  the  habit  of  misrepresenting  and 
equivocating,  that  it  is  almost  an  impossibility  to  get 
from  their  mouths  a  straight  story.  They  have  for 
years  made  lies  their  refuge,  and  God  has  evidently 
given  them  up  to  the  influence  of  a  lying  spirit — So 
true  is  the  declaration  of  the  Apostle,  "that  where 
envying  and  strife  are,  there  are  contention  and 
EVERY  EVIL  WORK.'' 

Note.— Since  the  above  went  to  the  press,  we  are  informed, 
that  the  members  of  the  important  committee  which  sat  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bourbon,  were,  A.  Rankin  and  his  elder,  and 
the  Rev.  John  Young,  from  Rockbridge,  Virginia.  The  memory 
of  Mr.  Young,  as  a  scholar,  preacher,  and  christian,  is  dear  to  all 
who  had  any  opportunity  of  being  acquainted  with  him;  but  in 
this  case  he  was  grossly  imposed  upon.  All  things  considered, 
Mr.  Rankin  was  in  fact  the  whole  of  this  committee.  He  was  at 
once  the  accuser,  the  witness,  and  the  judge— and  these,  too, 
without  giring  the  accused  even  an  opportunity  of iptaking. 


Church  History,  431 

CRURCH  HISTORY. 

LUTHER,  THE  REFORMER. 

Reformation  supposes  previous  abuses.  But  we 
may  feel  our  evils,  and  be  very  fir  from  knowing 
how  to  get  rid  of  them.  This  was  remarkably  ve- 
rified in  the  state  of  the  Church,  previous  to  th e 
appearance  of  Martin  Luther.  Common  sense,  and 
the  voice  of  natural  conscience,  had  agreed  to  the 
necessity  of  a  reformation,  though  men  knew  net 
the  principles  on  which  it  ought  to  proceed.  Th/i 
greatest  personages  of  the  times  had,  in  the  most 
solemn  manner,  declared,  that  the  evils  under  which 
the  religious  community  laboured  were  enormous.* 
Yet,  though  the  existence  of  the  disease  was  thus 
acknowledged,  the  true  remedy  was  unknown. 
This  remedy  was  to  be  drawn  only  from  the  word 
of  God;  but  of  this  volume  almost  all  parties  were 
equally  ignorant.  In  the  year  1517,  however,  the 
spirit  of  Luther  was  raised  up  to  instruct  the  igno- 
rant—to rouse  the  negligent — and  to  oppose  the 
scandalous  practices  cf  interested  and  amoitious 
ecclesiastical  rulers.  The  Head  of  the  Church 
crowned  his  labours  with  the  most  astonishing  suc- 
cess— -and  we  are  still  reaping  the  fruits.  To  gra- 
tify, as  well  as  to  instruct  our  readers,  then,  we 
propose  to  give  them,  from  Milner's  Church  His- 
tory, some  account  of  the  character  and  transac- 
tions of  this  extraordinary  man.  And  while  we 
read  it,  and  while  we  entreat  others  to  read  it,  we 
pray  ardently,  that  God,  of  his  abundant  mercy, 
may  raise  up  for  us  in  these  Western  parts,  a  few 
such  men.     All  things  considered,  we  do  not  think 

*  For  a  short  view  of  these  evih,  see  Evangelical  Record, 
vol.  I.  p.  36. 


f 


432  Church  History. 

the  churches  called  christian,  in  the  Southern  and 
Western  states,  are  at  this  time  in  a  better  state 
than  the  churches  in  Germany  were,  at  the  sera  of 
the  Reformation.  We  toav,  perhaps,  in  a  saparate 
paper,  confirm  our  opinion  by  an  exhibition  of  a 
lew  facts. 

Luther,  the  Saxon  reformer,  was  born  in  the  year 
1483,  at  Isleben,  a  town  belonging  to  the  county 
of  Mansfield.  His  father  wrought  in  the  mines  of 
Mansfield,  which  were  at  that  time  very  {famous; 
and,  after  the  birth  of  his  son,  Martin  Luther,  remov- 
ed to  that  town,  became  a  proprietor  in  the  mines, 
discharged  public  offices  there,  and  was  esteemed 
•y  aU  men  for  his  integrity.  He  gave  a  very  liberal 
education  to  Martin,  who  was  remarkable  for 
dutiful  affection  to  his  parents,  in  general,  though 
in  one  instance,  to  be  mentioned  presently?  he 
was  led  away  bv  the  superstition  of  the  times,  so  as 
to  offend  his  father  exceedingly.  After  he  had  made 
great  proficiency  in  his  studies  at  Magdeburg,  Eise- 
nach, and  Erfurih,  he  commenced  master  of  arts  in 
the  university  of  Erfu*-^  ~*  jhe  a^e  nf  ♦;-;^'lv;  nrju 
Having  new  finished  his  course  of  philosophy,  he  be- 
gan to  give  close  attention  to  the  science  of  the  civil 
law,  and  is  said  to  have  intended  to  advance  himself 
Impleading  at  the  bar;  but  he  was  diverted  from  this 
purpose  bv  an  accident.*  As  he  was  walking  in  the 
fields  with  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  his  com- 
panion was  suddenly  killed  by  lightning;  and  Luther 
himself  was  so  terrified,  partly  by  this  event,  and 
partly  by  the  horrid  noi?e  of  the  thunder,  that  while 
his  mind  was  in  the  utmost  consternation,  he  formed 
the  hasty  resolution  of  withdrawing  from  the  work), 
and  of  thro  wing  himself  into  the  monastery  at  Erfurth. 

*  Du  Pm.    Moreri.    Msimbour?. 

Some  authors  say,  that  Luther's  mti*liate  friend   was  found 
murdered  about  the  same  time  that  he  himself  was  so  terrified  by 

the  thunder. 


i 


Church  History. 


jo 


v 


His  father,  a  man  of  plain,  but  of  sound  understand- 
ing, strongly  remonstrated.  The  son  as  strongly 
pleaded,  what  he  considered  as  a  terrible  call  from 
heaven, to  take  upon  himself  the  monastic  vow.  "Take 
care,"  replied  the  father,  "that  you  are  not  ensnared 
by  a  delusion  of  the  devil. "  But  the  mind  of  Martin 
was  determined;  and  filial  disobedience,  in  such  a 
case,  was  looked  on  as  a  virtue.  To  the  great  grief 
and  mortification  of  his  father,  he  entered  th 
tery  in  the  year  1505. 

In  the  second  year  after  Luther  had  eritei  1  im  ) 
the  monastery,  he  accidentally  met  with  a  La' in  bible 
in  the  library.  It  proved  to  him  a  treasure.  Then  he 
first  discovered,  that  there  were  more  scripture  pas- 
sages extant  than  those  which  were  read  to  the  peo- 
ple. For  the  scriptures  were  at  that  time  very  little 
known  in  the  world.  In  reading  the  word  of  God  with 
prayer,  his  understanding  was  gradually  enlightened, 
and  he  found  some  beams  of  evangelical  comfort  to 
dart  into  his  soul.  The  same  year  he  was  refreshed  in 
his  sickness  by  the  discourse  of  an  old  monk,  who 
.showed  him  that  remission  of  sins  .  e  appre- 

hended by  faith  alone,  and  referred  him  to  a  passage 
in  Bernard's  sermon  on  the  annunciation,  where  the 
same  doctrine  was  taught.  With  incredible  ardor  he 
now  gave  himself  up  to  the  study  of  the  s  i  5  and 

the  books  of  Augustin.     He  was  at  length  regarded 
as  the  most  ingenious  and  learned  man  of  his  order  in 
Germany.     But  the  soul  of  Luther  w—  const... 
panting  for   something  very  different  from  se. 
glory. 

He  was  ordained  in  the  year  150/%  and  in  the  next 
year  was  called  to  the  professorship  at  Wittenberg  by 
Staupitius,  where  a  theatre  was  opened  for  the  display 
of  his  talents  both  as  a  teacher  of  philosophy  and  as  "a 
popular  preacher.  He  excelled  in  both  c.rjv.ca^, 
Eloquent  by  nature,  and  powerful  in  mi  :  af„ 

Vol.  ii.  N  n  2 


<*  • 


434  Church  History. 

fections,  acquainted  also  in  a  very  uncommon  manner 
with  the  elegancies  and  energy  of  his  native  tongue, 
he  became  the  wonder  of  his  age.     These  things  are 
allowed  very  liberally  by  his  enemies;5*  but  it  ought 
to  be  observed,  that  the  exercises  of  his  own  mind, 
by  which,  under  the  guidance  of  the  holy  Spirit,  he 
was  led  more  and  more  into  christian  truth,  would  na- 
turally add  a  strength  to  his  oratory,  unattainable  by 
thos;  who  speak  not  from  thv-  heart.     Martin   Poli- 
chius,  a  doctor  of  law  and  medicine,  exclaimed,  "this 
monk  will  confound  all  the  doctors,  will  exhibit  new 
doctrinr,  and  reform  the  whole  Roman  church;  for  he 
is  intent  on  reading  the  writings  of  ihe  prophets  and 
apostles,  and  he  depends  on  the  word  of  Jesus  Christ; 
this,  neither  the  philosophers  nor  the  sophists  can  sub- 
vert.''   He,  who  spake  thus,  was  himself  looked  on  as 
a  prodigy  of  wisdom;   and,  I  suppose,  a  degree  of  dis- 
cernment, less  than  his,  might  have  shown  an  atten- 
tive observer,  that  the  didactic  plan  of  Luther  was 
that  of  an  original  thinker,  who  was  not  likely  to  con- 
fine himself  to  the  beaten  track,  but  to  produce  some- 
thing new  to  mankind.    M^lnncihon's  concise  account 
entirely  agrees  with  this  statement.  "Polichius,"  says 
he,  "often  declared,  that  there  was  a  strength  of  intel- 
lect in  this  marxj  which  he  plainly  foresaw  would  pro- 
duce a  revolution  in  the  popular  and  scholastic  religion 
of  the  ti  r.ts."  Nor  does  it  seem  at  all  improbable,  but 
that  if  Luiher  had  followed  merely  the  dictates  of  his 
own  adventurous  genius,  he  might  have  been  the  in- 
ventor of  some  novel  theological  schemes  and  doc- 
trines.    But  ah  tendency  to  fanciful  excursions  in  the 
important  concerns  of  re.igion.  was  effectually  re- 
strained and  chastised  in  the  mind  of  our  reformer  by 
his  profound  reverence  for  the  written  wTord:  more- 
over, from  his  first  entrance  into  the  monastery,  he 
appears  to  have  been  taught  of  God,  and  to  have  beer, 

*  P*£e,  18.  Maimbourg.    Pa^e,  22.  Varillasius, 


• 


Church  History.  435 

led  more  and  more  into  such  discoveries  of  native  de- 
pravity, as  render  a  man  low  in  his  own  eyes,  and  dis- 
pose him  to  receive  the  genuine  gospel  of  Christ. 

In  the  year  1510,  he  was  sent  to  Rome  on  some 
business,  which  related  to  his  own  monastery,  and  this 
he  discharged  with  so  much  ability  and  success,  that 
on  his  return,  he  was  compelled  by  the  vicar  general 
to  assume  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity.  He  writes, 
that  he  did  this  with  great  reluctance,  and  entirely 
from  obedience  to  his  superiors.  It  is  easy  indeed  for 
a  man  to  say  this;  but,  from  the  mouth  of  Luther  it  is 
with  me  decisive  of  its  truth.  For  veracity  and  inte- 
grity do  evidently  appear  to  have  remarkably  entered 
into  the  character  of  this  reformer,  as  indeed  these 
virtues  are  always  to  be  eminently  found  in  those, 
who  have  had  the  most  genuine  experience  of  Chris- 
tianity, The  expenses  attending  this  high  degree  were 
defrayed  by  the  elector  of  Saxony,  who  always  admir- 
ed Luther,  and  was  perfectly  convinced  of  the  pro- 
fundity of  his  learning  and  the  rectitude  of  his  views 
in  religion.  While  he  had  been  at  Rome,  he  had  dis- 
covered something  of  the  singularity  of  his  character, 
which  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Italian  priests. 
The  external  rites  of  religion,  which  to  them  were 
matter  of  political  formality, with  him  were  serious  ex- 
ercises. While  they  hurried  over  their  exercises  of  the 
mass, he  performed  his  with  a  solemnity  and  devotion, 
which  excited  their  ridicule,  and  they  bade  him  to 
repeat  them  with  more  rapidity.  A  thoughtful  mind 
like  his,  could  not  conceive  that  religious  employ- 
ments should  be  discharged  with  levity,  and  he  re- 
turned to  his  monastery  more  fully  convinced  than 
ever,  that  Rome  was  not  the  scene,  in  which  a  serious 
pastor  could  properly  learn  the  rudiments  of  religion. 
He  studied  and  taught  the  scriptures  with  increasing 
ardour  and  alacrity,  and  after  he  had  been  created 
doctor,  in  the  year  1512,  he  expounded  the  psalms 


436  Church  History. 

and  the  epistles  to  the   Romans,  to  the  great  satisfac- 
tion of  his  audience.     He  studied  the  Hebrew  and  the 
Greek  languages,  and  highly  valued  the  philological 
labours  of  the  famous  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  the  re- 
nowned reviver  of  classical  literature;  and  while  he 
concurred  with  that  great  man  in  his  contempt  of  mo- 
nastic trifles,  he  was  intensely  studious  to  learn  better 
and  more  scriptural  notions  of  God  and  his  attributes, 
than  those  which  Erasmus  so  ingeniously  satirized. 
To  build  was,  however,  fount,  much  more  arduous, 
as  it  is  certainly  a  far  more  important  work,  than  to 
pull  down;  and  from  the  time  that  Luther  was  created 
a  doctor  of   divinity,  he  ccnsc'ensciously  devoted  his 
time  and  talents  to  the  sacred  effice.     Already  he  was 
suspected  of  heresy,  because  of  his  dislike  of  the  scho- 
lastic doctrines;  and  he  was  induced,  both  from  the 
natural  soundness  of  his  understanding,  and  from  the 
spiritual  exercises   of  his  own    heart,  to  reject   the 
Aristotelian  corruptions  of  theology,  and  to  study  the 
genuine  doctrines,  of  scripture. 

In    October,    1516,     Luther    communicated    tj 
his    learned    friend    Spaiatious,    his    thoughts    cc 
eernlng  of  the  fathers,  and  «*;so  concerning 

Erasmus's  method  of  interpreting  scripture  *  This 
mernor;.  =crvethe  particular  attention 

of  the  reader,  as  it  furnishes  judicious  and  connected 
observations  on  Augustin  and  bis  contemporaries, 
and  on  the  fathers  both  who  preceded  and  who  follow- 
ed them:  .suggest  Sec- 
tions on  the  comparative  merits  of  theologians  in  dif- 
ferent periods,  from  the  days  of  Cypria  e  o: 
Luther,  and  Erasmus. 

Luther,  to  Georg.  Spalatinus 

"  That,    which  strikes  my   mind    in   considering 
Erasmus,  is  this:  In  inn 
of  the  righteousness  of  wo.  law,  he  tm- 

•  Lib.i.cp  20. 


/ 


. 


Church  History,  457 

tlerstands  by  these  terms  ceremonial  observances  on? 
LY.  In  the  next  place,  though  he  admits  the  doctrine 
of  original  sin,  he  will  not  allow,  that  the  apostle  speaks 
of  it  in  the  fifth  chapter  to  the  Romans.  Now,  if  he 
carefully  read  Augustin's  Pelagian  Tracts,  espe- 
cially his  account  of  the  spirit  and  the  letter,  of  the 
guilt  of  sin  and  the  remission  of  it;  ?md  had  observed 
how  he  speaks  in  perfect  unison  with  the  best  of  the 
fathers,  from  Cyprian  to  Ambrose,  he  might  have  bet- 
ter understood  the  apostle  Paul,  and  also  have  con- 
ceived more  highly  of  Augustin  as  an  expositor,  than 
he  has  hitherto  done.  In  dissenting  from  Erasmus's 
judgment  in  this  point,  I  must  frankly  declare,  that  I 
as  much  prefer  Augustin's  expositions  to  those  of 
Jerom  as  he  prefers  those  of  Jerom  to  Augustin's. 
I  am,  it  is  true,  an  Augustin  monk;  but  that  circum- 
stance has  no  influence  on  my  judgment;  for  till  I  had 
read  this  father's  works,  I  had  not  the  least  prejudice 
in  his  favour.  But  I  see  that  Jerom  studiously  endea- 
vours to  draw  every  thing  to  a  merely  historical  mean- 
ing,* and  what  is  very  extraordinary,  where  he  ex- 
pounds the  scriptures  as  it  were  occasionally  or  acci- 
dentally, as  in  his  epistles  for  instance,  he  does  it  in  a 
much  sounder  manner  than  when  he  interprets  pro- 
fessedly and  on  purpose.  The  righteousness  of  the 
law  is  by  no  means  confined  to  ceremonies;  for,  though 
it  includes  these,  it  still  more  directly  respects  an  obe- 
dience to  the  whole  decalogue,  which  obedience,  when 
it  taktrs  place  to  acertain  degree  and  yet  has  not  Christ 
for  its  foundation,  though  it  may  produce  such  men 
as  vour  Fabricius's,  and  your  Regulus's,  that  is,  very 
upright  moralists,  according  to  man's  judgment,  has 
nothing  in  it  of  the  nature  of  genuine  righteousness, 
For  men  are  not  made  truly  righteous,  as  Aristotle 

*  A  merely  historical  meaning"  A  mere  narration  of  facts,  as 
opposed  to  a  spiritual  meaning,  and  a  practical  application  to  every 
man's  conscience. 


438  Church  History. 

supposes,  by  performing  certain  actions  which  are* 
externally  good,  (for  they  may  still  be  counterfeit  cha- 
racters,) but,  men  must  have  righteous  principles  in 
the  first  place,  and  then  they  will  not  fail  to  perform 
righteous  actions.  God  first  respects  Abel,and  then  his 
offering.*  I  beg  you  would  put  Erasmus  in  mind  of 
these  things.  In  so  doing,  you  will  discharge  the  du- 
ties both  of  a  friend  and  of  a  christian.  As  on  the  one 
hand,  I  hope  and  wish  that  he  may  be  celebrated 
through  the  christian  world,  so  on  the  other,  I  fear 
many  may  be  induced  by  the  authority  of  his  nam?, 
to  patrenise  that  literal  and  lifeless  mode  of  interpre- 
ting scripture,  into  which  almost  all  commentators 
have  fallen,  since  the  time  of  Augustin.  I  may  be 
thought  presumptuous  and  perhaps  seve  re  in  thus 
criticising  many  great  men:  my  apology  is,  that  I  feel 
a  concern  for  the  cause  of  true  theology,  and  for  the 
salvation  of  the  brethren." 

A  little  before  the  controversy  concerning  indul- 
gences, George,  duke  of  Saxony,  intreated  Staupitius 
to  send  him  some  learned  and  worthy  preacher.  The 
vicar  general  in  compliance  with  his  request,  des- 
patched Luther  with'strong  recommendations  to  Dres- 
den. George  gave  him  an  order  to  preach:  the  sum 
of  Luther's  sermon  was  this:t  That  no  man  ought  to 
despair  of  the  possibility  of  salvation;  that  thosr,  who 
heard  the  word  of  God  with  attentive  minds,  were 
true  disciples  of  Christ,  and  were  elected,  and  predes- 
tinated to  eternal  life.  He  enlarged  on  the  subject, 
and  showed  that  the  whole  doctrine  of  predestination, 
if  the  foundation- be  laid  in  Christ,  was  of  singular  ef- 
ficacy to  dispel  that  fear,  by  which  men,  trembling 
under  the  sense  of  their  own  unworthiness,  are  temp- 
ted to  fly  from  Go  who  ought  to  be  our  sovereign 
refuge.  An  honour^ule  matron,  who  attended  the  pa- 
lace, and  who  had  heard  Luther,  was  asked  by  George 

*  Gen,  iv.  f  Seek.  p.  23. 


Church  History.  43 9 

the  duke,  at  dinner,  how  she  liked  the  discourse.  I 
should  die  in  peace,  said  she,  if  I  could  hear  such  an- 
other sermon.  The  duke,  in  much  anger,  replied,  "I 
would  give  a  large  sum  of  money,  that  a  sermon  of 
this  sort,  which  encourages  men  in  a  licentious  course 
of  life,  had  never  been  preached."  And  he  repeated 
this  several  times.  Within  the  space  of  a  month,  the 
lady  was  confined  in  bed  by  sickness,  and  soon  after 
died  rejoicing  in  her  prospects  of  future  glory.  Fabri- 
cius  concludes  the  account  with  saying,*  "From 
that  time  Luther  came  no  more  to  Dresden."  That 
capital  of  modern  Saxony  was  then  part  of"  the  duke- 
dom of  George,  who  proved  one  of  the  most  virulent 
enemies  of  lutheranism.  He  was  the  uncle  of  prince 
Frederic  the  wise.  Like  pharisaic  formalists  in  all 
ages,  he  perversely  misconstrued  the  doctrine  of  free 
salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  which  Luther  preached, 
and  which  is  intended  to  enable  humble  and  repent- 
ing souls  to  serve  God  with  lively  faith  and  cheerful 
hope.  The  duke  of  Saxony,  I  observe,  perversely 
misconstrued  this  doctrine,  as  though  it  had  a  ten- 
ancy to  persuade  men  to  live  in  sin;  but  the  good 
matron  abovementioned,  who  resided  at  his  court, 
appears  to  have  tasted  of  that  bitterness  of  true  con- 
viction of  sin,  which  only  can  render  the  doctrine  of 
grace  delightful  and  salutary  to  the  mind. 

How  precious  this  doctrine  must  have  been  to  the 
mind  of  Luther  himself,may  be  conceived  from  a  well 
authenticated  circumstance,!  which  evinces  the  state 
of  mental  bondage,  in  which  he  had  been  held.  Hav- 
ing for  manydays  neglected,through  the  intenseness  of 
his  studies,  to  recite  the  canonical  hours,  he,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  pope's  decrees,  and  to  satisfy  his  con- 
science, actually  shut  himself  up  in  his  closet,  and  re- 
cited what  he  had  omitted,  with  punctilious  exactness 
and  with  such  severe  attention  and  abstinence,  as  re- 

*  0:ig.  Sax.  lib.  yii.  f  Vol.  i.  p.  344,   Bavar.    Seek,  p.  21 


440  Church  History. 

duced  his  strength  exceedingly,  brought  on  nearly  a 
total  want  of  sleep  for  the  space  of  five  weeks,  and  al- 
most produced  symptoms  of  a  weakened  intellect.  Is 
it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  he,  who  at  length  found  re- 
lief and  liberty  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  should  be  zeal- 
ous to  preach  the  mystery  of  the  cross  to  his  fellow 
creatures? 

I  have  now  laid  before  the  curious  reader  some  in- 
teresting particulars  of  the  private  life  of  Luther,  pre- 
vious to  his  assumption  of  that  public  character,  which 
has  made  his  name  immortal.  The  serious  christian 
will  adore  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  divine  Provi- 
dence, which,  by  preparatory  exercises  of  soul,  had 
directed  this  extraordinary  personage  into  the  true 
light  and  liberty  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  fitted  him 
for  the  great  work  to  which  he  was  called.  At  the  same 
time  it  seems  a  certain  fact,  that  the  Saxon  reformer 
was  not  induced  to  act  the  part,  which  has  given  so 
great  a  celebrity  to  his  name,  fiom  motives  of  personal 
malice,  or  of  ambition,  or  of  avarice,  but  purely  from 
the  fear  of  God,  from  a  conscientious  regard  to  evan- 
gelical truth,  from  a  zeal  for  the  divine  glory,  and  101 
the  profit  of  the  souls  of  his  fellow  creatures. 


The  following  is  extracted  from  an  English  publica- 
tion, and  was  forwarded  to  us  by  a  worthy  layman  of 
this  neighbourhood. 

ON  MINISTERS'  SALARIES. 

Mr.  Editor — 

I  have  seen,  at  different  times,  a  page  or  two  of 
your  valuable  Magazine  occupied  in  laying  before  the 
religious  public  an  account  of  the  inadequate  provi- 
sion which  many  congregations  make  for  their  minis- 
ters, and  arguments  used  to  draw  the  attention  of  the 


I 


On  Ministers*  Salaries.  441 

friends  of  genuine  religion  to  the  subject,  and  to  sti- 
mulate them  to  exert  themselves  to  render  those  who 
minister  to  them  in  holy  things,  in  some 'degree  com- 
fortable. But  after  waiting  from  year  to  year-,  in  ex- 
ptc  ation  that  some  plan  would  be  devised  to  remedy 
the  evil,  and  remove  all  just  ground  of  eumplaint,  I 
have  neither  seen  nor  heard,  although  mv  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Protestant  dissenters,  called  orthodox, 
is  pretty  extensive,  that  any  thing  has  been  done  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  those  who  have  too  much 
reason  to  complain. 

Is  it  not  shameful, — does  it  not  argue  a  want  ef  all 
due  consideration,  that  not  a  few  dissenting  congre- 
gations can  raise  as  much  at  one  collection,  for  cer- 
tain objects,  as  they  raise  for  their  minister  In  the 
whole  year?  Is  there  not  something  in  this  like  de- 
testable pride,  and  vain  glory,— well  knowing  that 
their  liberality  will  be  exhibited  to  the  view  of  all  who 
read  certain  publications?  I  have  frequently  been 
grieved  to  hear  persons,  who  should  know  better, 
say,  "Ministers  are  only  entitled  to  a  bare  co?nfiete7ice, 
a  mere  subsistence*'*  But  why,  I  ask,  with  a  degree 
of  indignation,  why,  are  they  entitled  to  a  mere  sub- 
sistence? Are  they  worse  members  of  civil  society 
than  other  men?  This,  surely,  will  not  be  affirmed, 
except  by  the  inveterate  enemies  of  the  cross,  who, 
like  Haman,  say,  "$t  is  not  for  the  king's  profit  to 
suffer  them  to  live."  Are  they  worse  members  of 
religious  society  than  all  others?  This,  no  man  in  his 
sober  stnses,  will  dare  to  avow.  Why  then,  I  ask 
again,  have  they  a  right  only  to  a  mere  subsistence? 
From  what  premises  do  persons  who  talk  in  this  man- 
ner draw  their  conclusions?  Not  from  ihe  Mosaic 
Dispensation;  because,  under  that,  a  suitable  provi- 
sion was  made  for  the  priesthood.  Not  from  the 
Gospel;  because  the  apostle  argues  from  the  provision 
made  for  the  ministers   of   religion  under  the  Law, 

Vol.  ii.  Oo 


442  On  Ministers'  Salaries. 

to  what  ought  to  be  done  under  the  Gcspel.  Not 
from  the  principles  of  common  equit)  and  justice, 
Which,  with  scripture,  say,  that  the  industrious  "la- 
bourer is  worthy  of  his  "hire."  It  is  evident,  then, 
that  the  premiss  from  which  th(  v  infer,  that  minis- 
ters are  only  fntided  to  a  mere  subsistence,  ixisi  no 
where  but  in  gross  ignorance,  or  in  what  is  worse, 
base  ingratitude,  and  want  of  affection  for  their  spiri- 
tual guides. 

Many  congregations,  when  told  that  thry  should 
be  more  liberal  to  their  ministers,  reply,  uvve  are  a 
poor  people" — and  well  they  may  be,  who  are  guilty 
of  such  flagrant  injustice  to  their  ministers.  How 
can  they  expect  to  prosper  in  their  temporal  concerns 
who  make  no  suitable  provision  for  their  pastor  and 
his  family?  Have  they  not  too  much  reason  to  fear 
being  cursed  in  their  basket  and  in  their  store,  while 
they  are  so  wofully  neglectful  of  their  ministers?  Let 
any  one  go  over  the  whole  nation,  and  he  will  find 
those  congregations  in  the  most  flourishing  circum- 
stances, in  their  secular  affairs,  who  support  their 
ministers  in  a  decent  and  comfortable  manner. 

Congregations  are  very  apt  to  put  ministers  in  re- 
membrance that  they  are  only  the  servants  of  the 
church.  Be  it  so.  Then  their  own  account  of  the 
matter  furnishes,  what  logicians  call  argumentum  ad 
homincm.  Does  not  every  one  know,  that  the  law 
will  oblige  a  master,  who  hires  a  servant  into  his  fa- 
mily, to  find  him  suitable  and  sufficient  provision? 
But  some  may  ask,  ''what  does  the  wrriter  deem  suf- 
ficient?" To  this  1  return  no  answer.  Circumstances 
must  determine  how  much  is  necessary.  But  is  there 
not,  in  every  congregation,  a  person  to  be  found  of 
good  common  understanding,  who  knows  what  is  re- 
quired to  cover  the  expense  of  a  decent,  but  frugal 
mode  of  living?  This  cannot  be  doubted.  Let  him 
Step  forward  and  tell  the  rest  what  ought  to  be  done. 


Ci 


On  Ministers'  Salaries.  443 

Or,  let  some  solid  reason  be  aligned  why  a  minister 
or  the  gospel  should  sit  dow.i  to  a  worse  dinner,  cr 
Wear  a  worse  coat,  than  his  hearers  in  moderate  cir- 
cn  nst  irftes.  I  know  but  of  one  th  it  can  be  assign  •  Ij 
an  I  that  is — Jt'ten  he  has  it  not  i  his  power.  Bui; 
i  is  h  ■  it  :ni  in  his  po\/er?  3  ;ca  ise,  say  m  my, 
he  is  'ntuled  to  a  hire  subsistence,  a  wrt  subsist- 
enc — a  nere  subsistence!  "Tell  it  not  in  Gith  "  Is 
no-  th  w  iy  in  which  many  Protest  nc  dissenters  trea: 
their  ministers,  especially  those  called  orthodox,  an 
eternal  disgrace  to  them?  Methinks  I  hear  some  as 
they  read,  exclaiming, — a  libel! — a  libel! — Be  not 
alarmed;  no  libel,  but  a  true  statement  of  lamentable 
facts. 

Should  any  think  that  I  am  an  interested  individu- 
al,—a  minister,  whose  people  do  not  provide  for  my 
temporal  wants,  they  are  greatly  uaisiaken.  I  have 
neither  church  nor  congregation;  and,  consequently, 
not  the  least  dependance  on  any:  but  as  it  is  a  busi- 
ness in  which  ministers  themselves  cannot  apsear  with 
a  good  grace,  it  is  high  time  that  the  laity  should  take 
it  up.  Pray,  what  encouragement  is  there  for  young 
men  of  real  religion  and  talents  to  enter  iato  the 
christian  ministry,  h/nvever  well  disposed  to  it,  when 
they  see  so  many ..godly  ministers  ami  their  families 
struggling  with  deep  poverty,  and  almost  reduced  to 
a  state  of  starvation?  I  hope  the  observation  which 
has  often  been  made,  by  persons  of  a  mean,  covetous, 
and  avaricious  mind,  is  become  stale,  and  ceases  to 
influence  the  minds  of  those  who  love  the  gospel;  viz, 
that  uministers  should  be  kept  humble  and  ^po^r,  for 
then  they  preach  best."  This  is  just  as  sound  rea- 
soning as  to  say,  that  a  minister  is  in  the  best  frame 
for  the  calm  investigation  of  divine*  subjects,  and  the 
discharge  of  all  ministerial,  christian,  and  relative* 
duties,  when  his  mind  is  tormented  with  pain  fa!  re- 
prehensions of  being  involved  in  debt,  and  i 


444     Data  for  creating  a  permanent  Fund. 

ing  a  disgrace  to  his  profession?  Who  can  believe 
this? 

Should  any  ask,  what  plan  would  the  writer  wish 
us  to  adopt  to  remedy  the  evil  of  which  he  complains? 
I  know  of  none  superior  to  that  which  has  long  been 
acted  upon  in  the  late  Mr.  Wesley's  Societies.  Let 
him  who  earns  but  twelve  or  fourteen  shillings  per 
week  lay  by  one  penny  per  week;  and  let  a  person  of 
approved  fidelity  be  chosen,  into  whose  hands  it  shall 
be  deposited,  to  be  produced  on  the  quarter-day.  Let 
him  who  earns  between  20  and  30  shillings,  dedicate 
two-pence  to  the  support  of  his  minister;  and  let  peo- 
ple of  some  property  contribute  in  proportion.  Upon 
this  plan,  I  am  bold  to  say,  a  sum  sufficient  to  render 
the  minister  comfortable  will  be  raised.  It  needs 
only  to  be  reduced  to  practice,  to  prove  its  propriety 
and  utility.  Some,  perhaps,  will  say,  "the  man  who 
earns  but  12  or  14  shillings  per  w.tk  has  more  need 
of  having  a  penny  given  to  him,  than  one  to  be  taken 
from  him.  Granted:  but  the  question  is,  would  he 
live  one  degree  worse  through  the  week,  for  having 
devoted  one  penny  to  the  purpose  specified?  I  an- 
swer, no. 

I  shall  wait  a  reasonable  time,  to  hear  whether 
what  I  have  written"  have  any  good  effect  upon  the 
professed  disciples  of  Christ.  If  it  have  not,  they  shall 
hear  from  me  again  through  the  same  medium,  if  ad- 
missible, or  the  most  popular  newspapers  in  the  coun- 
try, as  I  am  determined  to  persevere  until  tfrcobject 
in  view  be  obtained.  FKILODIKAIOS. 


DATA  FOR  CREATING  A  PERMANENT 
FUND  FOR  THE  SUPPORT  OF  THE 
GOSPEL  IN  ANY  GIVEN  SOCIETY. 

Not  SO  miles  from  Lexington,  a  small  Presbyte- 
rian society  has  just  ancminal  existence,  which  might 


Data  for  creating  a  permanent  Fund:     445 

at  this  day  have  been  able,  not  only  to  support  the 
whole  of  a  minister's  labours,  but  also  to  help  its 
neighbours,  whether  pagan  or  professed  christian's. 
The  facts  respecting  it  are  these:  — 

Twelve  years  ago,  it  counted  twelve  families  as 
permanent  members.  It  has  the  same  number  still. 
None  of  these  are  indeed  ranked  among  the  i\ch,  but 
they  are  all  in  easy,  comfortable  circumstances.  Du- 
ring the  first  three  years  of  their  history,  they  had 
sermon  three  or  four  times  in  the  year,  and  the  Lord's 
Sapper  twice  dispensed.  The  money  paid  by  them 
during  that  period  to  the  support  of  the  gospel,  might 
average  £25  yearly. 

During  the  years  1805,  6,  and  7,  they  had  what  is 
called  constant  supply,  that  is,  a  clergyman,  who  lived 
a  day's  journey  from  their  meeting  house,  preached 
to  them  in  the  summer  season  twice,  and  in  the  win- 
ter season  once  a  month.  The  money  raised  for  him 
averaged  S80  yearly. 

In  1808,  a  subscription  was  issued  for  the  purchas- 
ing of  a  small  farm,  which  was  to  remain  the  proper- 
ty of  the  congregation,  and  on  which  their  minister 
was  to  reside.  They  soon  had  as  much  subscribed 
as  would  have  purchased  a  farm  of  80  acres,  20  of 
which  were  cleared,  and  the  balance  in  good  timber. 
It  so  happened,  that  the  object  which  they  at  that 
time  had  in  view,  declined  settling  among  them;  and 
other  duties  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  clergyman 
who  had  formerly  served  them,  to  attend  to  them  as 
lie  had  done.  It  was  urged  upon  them,  that  notwith- 
standing their  disappointment  in  obtaining  a  pas- 
tor at  that  time,  they  should  proceed  and  purchase 
their  farm;  nay,  even  to  proceed,  and,  by  small  con- 
tributions, create  another  small-fundj  and  be  com- 
pletely ready  when  another  object  was  presented* 
But  the  habit  of  the  country  prevailed — all  was  given 

Vol.  ii.  Nr.2 


446    Dahijbr  creating  a  permanent  Fund. 

upat  onct — and  they  have,  from  'that  day  to  this,  just 
barely  existed. 

Let  us  now  calculate  what  this  little  congregation 
might  this  day  have  had  as  a  permanent  fund. 
Eighty  dollars,  which,  for  three  years,  they 

had  paid,  without  any  oppression,  -  S960 

Deduce  from   it  240,   which  was  paid  as 

above,  240 

And  you  have  S  720 

This,  vested  in  bank  stock,woulu  produce  860  yearly, 
atfleast.  This, with  the  farm,  &  their  increased  congre- 
gation, which  they,  without  doubt,  also  would  have 
had,  had  they  been  in  a  situation  to  have  obtained  a 
settlement  a  few  months  ago,  when  another  object 
was  within  reach,  would  have  certainly  contributed  a 
tund  of  very  extensive,  as  well  as  permanent  use. 
But  it  still  holds  good  that  the  men  of  this  world  are 
wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children  of  light* 
This  congregation,  which  might  have  been  rich,  and 
enjoying  every  week  the  whole  of  the  ordinances  of 
the  gospel,  is  starving  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
She  receives  a  scanty  spiritual  meal  twice  or  thrice  a 
year — with  hard  scraping,  she  makes  up  three  or  four 
dollars-to  the  parson  who  comes  to  christen  her  chil- 
dren— and  her  youth,  for  the  want  of  that  ministerial 
care  which  the  Head  of  the  Church  hath  ordained, 
differ  little  from  the  youth  of  avowed  infidels. 

N.  B.—  Perhaps  there  is  not  one  of  our  readers, 
who  are  not  able  to  name  two  or  three  congregations, 
who  are  nearly  in  the  same  situation  with  the  on« 
described  above.  Let  us  strengthen  the  things  which 
remain,  and  which  are  ready  to  die.  It  is  never  too 
late  to  make  a  vigorous  push, 


THOMAS  T.  SKILLMAN 

HAS  Or  THE  PRESS, 

And  will  publish  in  the  course  of  a  week  cr  i<     . 

TWO  DISCOURSES. 

IDelivered  about  a  year  ago, 
BY  TIMOTHY  DWIGHT,  DD.  LLD, 

PRESIDENT    OF  YALE  COLLEGE, 

The  great  object  of  these  discourses  is  to  shew, 
"that  the  awful  occurrences  which  have  taken  place 
within  these  last  twenty  years,  are  the  effusions  of  the 
sixth  and  seventh  Apocalyptic  vials" — and  "that  the 
unexampled  exertions  which  have  been  made  within 
these  ten  or  fifteen  years,  for  the  diffusion  of  Evange- 
lical truth,  are  the  commencement  of  the  Millenium." 
As  the  subjects  are  uncommonly  grand  and  interest- 
ing, the  Discourses  are  nearly  one  uninterrupted  dis- 
play of  the  highest  grade  of  oratory. 

We  shall  adorn  our  pages  with  two  short  extracts. 

The  first  sets  before  us  the  state  of  society  in  Paris 
during  that  period  which  has  emphatically  been  called 
the  "reign  of  terror." 

"The  spirit  of  infidelity  has  the  heart  of  a  wolf,  the  fangs  of  a 
tyger,  and  the  talons  of  a  vulture.  Blood  is  its  proper  nourish- 
ment: and  it  scents  its  prey  wiih  the  nerves  of  a  hound,  and  cow- 
ers over  a  field  of  death  on  the  sooty  pinions  of  a  fiend.  Unlike  all 
other  animals  of  prey,  it  feeds  upun  its  own  kind;  and,  when  glut- 
ted with  the  blood  of  others,  turns  back  upon  those  who  have 
been  its  coadjutors,  and  who,  if  either  its  disposition,  or  its  mea- 
sures, could  admit  of  friendship,  would  have  been  its  friends. — 
Between  ninety  and  one  hundred  rf  those,  who  we-e  leaders  in 
this  mighty  work  of  destruction,  fell  by  tbe  hand  of  violence.  Ene- 
mies to  all  men,  they  were  of  course  enemies  *o  each  other.  But- 
chers of  the  human  race,  they  soon  whetted  the  knife  for  each  o- 
ther's  throats.-  and  the  tremendous  Being-,  who  rule* the  universe, 
whose  existence  they  had  denied  in  a  solemn  act  of  legislation, 
whose  perfections  they  had  made  the  butt  of  public  scorn  and  pri- 
vate insult,  whose  Son  they  had  crucified  afresh,  and  whose 
Word  they  had  burnt  by  the  bands  of  the  common  hangman/ 
swept  them  all  by  the  tafed  of  violence  into  &r.  unuaiely  grave* 


448  An  address  to  the  Churches  under  the  care 

The  tale  made  every  ear  which  heard  it  tingle,  and  every  heart 
chill  with  horror.  It  wis,  in  the  langu  g  ot  O.-s.an,  "the  song 
of  death."  It  was  like  »he  reign  of  the  ;  1  £ue  in  a  populouscity. 
Knell  tolled  upon  knell;  hearse  followed  hearse;  and  c  ftm  rum- 
bled after  coffin,  without  a  mourner  to  shed  a  tear  upon  the 
corpse,  or  a  solitary  attendant  to  mark  the  place  nf  the  grave. 
From  one  neiv  moon  to  another ,  an1  from  one  sabbath  to  another 
the.  world  vientjorfh  and  looked  njter  the  tar  cases  <J  the  men.  ivh' 
transgressed- against  God;  and  they  uerean  abhorring  u.,to  allfieth.u 

The  second  sets  before  us,  what  is  to  be  realised 
when  the  gospel  shall  have  universal  influence. 

"This  work,  my  friends  and  brethren,  is  the  greatest  and  best 
that  was  ever  done  It  was  the  work  of  the  Reformers:  it  waj 
the  work  of  the  Apostles.  To  accomplish  it  the  Holy  Ghost  came 
down  from  heaven:  and  to  procure  its  accompftSl  ment  Christ 
hung  upon  the  cross.  It  is  no  other,  than  to  plant  trees  of  righte- 
ousness throughout  the  world — to  sou  the  seed  of  immortal  life 
over  the  vast  desert  of  man;  and  to  kindle  the  flame  of  piety  on 
the  altars  of  a  thousand  nations.  It  is  to  U.kc  by  the  hand  the  mi- 
serable votaries  of  sin  and  falsehood,  the  unnumbered  heirs  of  per- 
dition, and. lead  them  into  the  path,  which  terminates  in  endless 
glory.  It  is  to  make  that  straight  and  narrow  path  a  broad  and 
beaten  high-nay,  in  which  rjay  faring  men,  though  fools,  shall  not 
err  It  is  to  change  the  solitaiy  trav.  Hers,  now  and  then  found  in 
it  here t<  lore,  into  a  crowd,  a  stream,  a  vast  tide,  of  pilgrims,  mov- 
ing onward  to  eternal  Life.  It  is  to  fill  heaven  with  inhabitants,' 
and  to  multiply  sons,  and  prints,  and  kings,  to  God  our  Father,  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  to  plant  thrones  on  the  plains  of  im- 
mortality, ai.d  seat  upon  them  glorious  beings  jnnumei able,  who 
shall  live,  and  reign,  for  ever  and  tvet ." 

Lexington,  Ky.y September  23,  1813. 


AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  CHURCHES 
UNDER  THE  CARE  OF  THE  WEST 
LEXINGTON  PRESBYTERY. 

Dear   Brethren, 

Wc  have  many  things  to  say  to  yon,  but  the  limits 
prescribed  will  not  permit  us  to  be  lengthy.  We  hope, 
however,  you  will  hear  with  us,  while  we  address  you 
on  several  subjects,  which  we  deem   interesting   to 


of  the  West -Lexington  Presbytery.     449 

you,  and  ourselves  as  individuals,  and  as  members 
of  social  and  religious  society.  Some  of  these  things 
are  applicable  to  all — others  are  applicable  to  some 
only.  He  that  ought  to  receive  them,  let  him  receive 
them. 

In  your  baptism  you  have  had  the  name  of  God, 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  called  upon  you,  iu 
infancy,  or  in  ripe  years.  You  are,  then,  solemnly 
bound  to  perform  the  duties,  and  to  live  the  lives 
of  christians.  If  you  do  not,  whatever  you  may 
say,  or  think  on  this  subject,  you  practically  renounce 
the  holy  Trinitv,  and  give  Christianity  and  your  pro- 
fession the  lie.— You  *' crucify  the  Lord  Jesus  afresh, 
and  put -him  to  an  open  shame."  Say  not,  if  you 
were  baptized  in  infancy,  it  was  not  your  act,  and 
therefore  you  are  not  accountable.  This  is  false  rea- 
soning— you  were  brought  into  being,  and  made  ac- 
countable creatures,  without  y©ur  act — you  were 
brought  into  a  state  of  guilt,  and  depravity— consti- 
tuted sinners — subjected  to  mortality,  and  innumera- 
ble evils  without  your  act.  Redemption  on  the  part 
ot  God,  was  provided  for  you  without  your  act,  or 
choice.  You  were  born  in  a  certain  period  of  time, 
in  a  certain  part  of  the  world,  of  certain  parents,  un- 
der a  certain  government,  with  civil  privileges,  and 
restrictions;  all  without  your  act,  or  consent.  Di- 
vine providence  determined  all  these  without  con- 
sulting you.  And  shall  he  not  also  place  a  certain 
guard  over  you  for  your  good,  and  grant  you  privi- 
leges which  shall  be  vested  in  your  parent-,  or  guar- 
dians in  trust,  till  you  are  of  age,  and  capable  of  act- 
ing for  yourselves?  This  is  neither  unreasonable  nor 
unscriptural;  which  we  could  prove  at  large,  if  our 
limited  bounds  would  admit.  You  cannot,  then,  be 
precisely  what  you  would  have  been,  if  you  had  been 
born  of  heathen  parents,  or  in  a  land  where  the  Bi- 
ble has  never  come.  You  may,  indeed,  be  as  profli- 
gate and  wicked;  but,  be  assured,  your  profligacy  and 


450  An  address  to  the  Churches  under  the  care 

wickedness  are  more  aggravated;  because  you  ar* 
undi  r  greater  obligations  to  holiness.  God  has 
brought  you,  who  were  baptised  in  infancy,  into  tkt 
bonus  ml "his  covenant,  with  »ui  your  consent;  an  I  he 
ha  left  you  no  way  to  extricate  yourselves  from 
guilt,  but  by  submitting  to  him,  and-thus  ratifying,  on 
your  own  behalf,  your  baptism  il  obligations. 

As  these  ooiiga  ions  w-re  at  first  laid  on  you  thro* 
youjr  parent?,  so  th;*  promises  were  made  to  you  in 
the  same  way.  "For  the  promise  is  to  you  an  1  to 
your  children."  And  this  is  it,  l4I  will  be  thy  God, 
44  and  the  God  of  thy  seed.  I  will  pour  mv  spirit  up- 
44  on  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring." 
Let  us,  then,  brethren,  exhort  you,  to  whomsoever 
these  words  apply,  by  faith  to  appropriate  them  to 
y< ourselves,  and  they  shall  be  yours  for  all  the  pur- 
poses of  salvation:  but  if  you  do  not,  you  must  learn 
the  consequent  s,  and  they  will  be  awful  indeed. 

There  are  others  of  you,  brethren,  who  have  not 
only  been  baptised  into  the  name  of  the  sacred  trini- 
ty, but  have  once  and  again  approached  the  table  of 
the  Lord,  and  handled  the  symbols  Of  his  body  and 
blood.  Your  profession  here  was  full,  open,  and  pub- 
lic, before  God,  the  church,  and  the  world.  In  this 
you  have  acknowledged  you  were  hound  bv  every 
christian  tie.  It  remains,  therefore,  that  in  all  things 
you  conduct  yourselves  as  become th  the  gospel.  Your 
profession  speaks  louder  than  ,  words — it  proclaims, 
"you  are  not  your  own,  you  are  bought  with  a  price; 
"therefore  glorify  God  in  your  body  aud  spirit, 
"  which  are  his.'*  It  is  your  incumbent  duty,  and 
your  great  privilege,  daily  to  live  a  life  of  meditation 
and  prayer—- reading  and  hearing  the  word — spiritu- 
al mindedness — self  denial,  and  mortific  uion  to  the 
world — and  humble  and  circumspect  walk — in  fine, 
"waiting  patiently,  and  longing  for  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.5*  But  beware  of  placing  the  sum 
of  religion  in  cenain  duties,  which  lie  between  God 


of  the  West- Lexington  Presbytery.     451 

and  yourselves;  which  require  little  time  to  perform* 
and  less  expense;  and  which  grow  eas)  by  habit,  with- 
out the  spirit:  and  degenerate  in  o  mere  form  of  hy- 
pocrisy. In  the  estimation  of  God,  the  spirit  of  the 
action  is  the  ac  ion  itseif:  every  thin^  Ms  i*  vain  ol  - 
Istion;  as  you  may  see,  Isaiah  i.  1 1 — 20.  But  though 
these  duties  shou  d  be  performed  to  the  approbation 
of  God  and  your  own  conscience,  remember  they  are 
hut  the  half  of  religion,  and  the  the  most  selfish  half 
too.  They  begin  with  yourselves  anc*  terminate  there 
t— ihey  can  add  nothing  to  him  who  is  infinitely  per- 
fect. The  benefit  is  yours  individually,  and  yours 
exclusively.  There  is  a  more  noil  part,  which  ter- 
minates on  others,  and  in  which  at  If  has  less  to  do; 
where  it  is  to  be  mortified,  and  noc  gratified.  This 
kind  of  nligion  is  good,  and  profitable  unto  m;.n, 
tending  to  draw  something  out  or  the  sock  of  human 
misery,  and  add  to  that  of  happiness*  The  man 
whose  religion  is  not  profitable  to  another,  will  ne- 
ver thereby  profit  himself. 

The  exercises  and  evidences  of  our  religion,  lie 
greatly  in  the  right  performance  of  the  duties  we  owe 
to  one  another. 

Are  you  husbands?  "Love  V'  ur  wives,  and  be  not 
bkter  against  them;"  though  you  should  find  them, 
in  sc  veral  r<  spects,  what  they  ought  not  to  be —  4dwell 
with  them  according  to  knowledge,  giving  honour  to 
the  wife  as  unto  the  weaker  vessel,  and  as  being  heirs 
together  of  the  grace  of  life.*' 

Are  vou  wives?  "Submit  yourselves  to  your  own 
husband  in  all  things,  as  unto  the  Lord,"  remember 
ing,  "that  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife,  even 
as  Christ  is  the  h^ad  of  the  church  " 

Ave  they  far  from  being  what  they  should  be?  You 
arc  nevertheless  "to  be  obedient  to  them  in  the  Lord 
in  all  things:"  for  thus  the  divine  authority  binds  you. 
The  injunctions  of  die  divine  law  reach  the  conscience, 
and  this  should  never  he  sacrificed  to  pride,  pas- 
sion, caprice,  or  any  other  sinful  propensity. 


4K3  An  address  to  the  Chttrche sunder  the  care 

Are  you  children?  "Obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord; 
for  this  is  right.  Honour  thy  father,  and  thy  mother, 
that  it  may  be  well  with  thee,  and  that  thou  may- 
est  live  long  on  the  earth."  Your  parents  have  borne 
much  labour  and  expense,  nor',  pain*  and  anxiety  for 
you— suspended  hope?,  and  foreboding  fears  have 
alternately  filled,  and  yet  fill  their  bre  sts.  They 
yperit  your  most  tender  affection,  and  unreserved  o- 
bedience.  The  law  of  God  and  man  have  placed  you 
under  their  care,  their  tuition,  and  th  ir  government, 
until  you  arrive  at  mature  years.  Your  ignorance, 
your  inexperience^  and  that  rashness  so  common  to 
yo'Uth,  call  for  their  care,  their  counsel,  and  restraint. 
You  may  feel  impatient  under  these;  but  be  assured 
they  are  intended  for  your  good,  and  if  improved,  will 
terminate  in  good. 

Are  you  parents?  Without  unnecessary  delay  pre- 
sent your  children  to  the  Lord  in  baptism,  and 
then  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture,  and  admoni- 
tion of  the  Lord."  Nurture  is  food  or  nourishment, 
and  when  applied  to  the  mind,  signifies  instruction  in 
the  knowledge  of  divine  truth.  Your  children,  then, 
must  be  religiously  taught,  and  furnished  with  that 
knowledge,  which  is  to  the  soul  what  food  is  to  the 
body.  The  phraze  admonition  denotes  disposing 
and  settling  the  mind.  And  what  can  produce  this 
effect  so  well  as  the  knowledge,  and  practice  of  tho-.e 
holy  doctrines  contained  in  the  scripture  ^together  with 
the  administration  of  the  salutary  reproofs,  and  correc- 
tions, which  they  afford?  To  you,  who  are  parents, 
God  has  committed  a  weighty  charge,  in  which  you 
are  or  ought  to  be  deeply  interested.  You  have  been 
the  instruments  of  BEING  to  your  children,  and 
they  must  live  forever — you  cannot  remand  them 
back  into  non-existence.  There  is,  then,  but  one 
course  left,  in  the  pursuit  of  which  you  mav  be  the 
instruments  of  their  happy  immortalitv:  and  that  is, 
to  "bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 


of  the  West- Lexington  Presbytery.     453 

the  Lord."  We  have  heretofore  shewn,  that  God 
has  intrusted  you  with  certain  religious  immunities, 
in  behalf  of  your  children;  if  thev  forego  these  through 
your  default,  your  guilt  and  punishment  in  the  end 
must  be  great.  Be  not,  then,  overcarcful  to  make 
them  great  in  this  world;  but  strive  to  make  them 
good.  Let  your  conversation  and  conduct  before 
your  family,  be  circumspect;  coming  in  and  going  out 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  By  holy  precepts  you  must 
fix  their  minds;  by  holy  examples  you  must  influence 
their  practice.  Example  only  can  add  weight,  when 
it  is  put  in  the  scale  with  divine  precepts. 

You  may  say,  you  are  ignorant:  That  may  be.  And 
it  may  be  greatly  your  own  fault.  Have  you  put 
yourselves  under  the  care  of  an  able  and  faithful  min- 
istry? Do  you  daily  read  some  portion  of  sacred 
scripture?  Do  you  meditate  day  and  night  in  the  di- 
vine law?  Do  you  spend  a  little  annually  in  procu- 
ring the  best  religious  Authors,  and  are  you  careful 
to  peruse  them?  Do  you  every  day  in  yoiir  families 
and  in  secret,  ask  divine  instruction  by  humble  and 
fervent  prayer?  Then  you  cannot  be  ignorant— -vou 
are  wise,  "understanding  what  the  will  of  the  Lord 
is."  But  if  you  are  not  thus  occupying  your  time, 
and  your  talents,  you  are  ignorant  indeed — ignorant 
of  what  is  most  important  to  be  known — and  though 
you  should  know  svery  thing  else,  and  possess  the 
whole  globe,  you  will  be  undone  forever. 

Dear  brethren,  we  must  repeat  to  you  again  that 
solemn  injunction,  4<Ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  chil- 
dren to  wrath;  but  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture,  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord."  If  you  are  weak,  use  the 
little  strength  you  have  for  God,  and  he  will  increase 
it;  uhe  resisteth  the  proud,  and  giveth  grace  to  he 
humble."  If  you  lack  wisdom  ask  it  in  faith,  sin- 
cerely, fervently,  frequently;  and  it  shall  be  given  you> 
And  as  you  received  it  improve  it,  impart  it. 

Vol,  it,  Pp 


454  An  address  to  the  Churches  under  the  care 

Much  depends  on  how  you  restrain,  and  form  your 
children  in  their  younger  ye^rs.  "Train  up  a  child 
in  tfee  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will 
not  depart  from  it."  If  it  be  possible  put  your  chil- 
dren under  the  care  of  religious  teachers,  men  of 
your  own  sentiments — have  them  previously  bound 
to  instruct  them  in  the  Shorter  Catechism,  and  some 
other  little  religious  tracts.  See  that  the  holy  scrip- 
tures be  introduced  into  your  schools.  These  may 
fix  truths  on  their  juvenile  minds,  which  will  never 
be  forgotten.  Take  your  children  with  you  to  the 
house  of  God,  and  keep  them  there  under  your  par- 
ticular inspection.  Have  a  seat  appropriated  for 
your  family,  where  you  can  have  them  und<  r  your 
own  eye.  Promiscuous  sitting  here,  or  thene,  or  any 
where  (though  the  prevailing  mode  of  this  loose 
country,  and  in  itself  of  little  consequence)  has  a  per- 
nicious tendency,  as  it  gives  giddy  youth  a  better  op- 
portuni  y  of  sauntering,  trifling  or  going  out  in  time 
of  divine  service;  a  custom  shamefully  practised  in 
most  of  our  churches.  So  much  does  it  prevail  in 
our  guilty  land,  that  youth,  especially  the  male  sex, 
are  more  liable  to  be  corrupted  at  the  house  of  God, 
than  at  home,  or  at  their  secular  employments. 

Are  any  of  you  servants?  "Be  obedient  to  them 
that  are  your  masters,  according  to  the  flesh,  with 
fear  and  trembling;  in  singleness  of  your  heart  as  un- 
to Christ,  Not  with  eye-service  as  men-pleasers, 
but  as  the  servants  of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  God 
from  the  heart.  With  good  will  doing  service  as  to 
the  Lord,  and  not  to  men.  Knowing  that  whatsoev- 
er good  thing  any  man  doth,  the  same  shall  he  receive 
of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond,  or  free.  Exhort 
servants  to  be  obedient  to  their  own  masters,  and  to 
please  them  well  in  all  things,  not  answering  again," 
or  contradicting,  "not  purloining,"  or  stealing  pri- 
vately, "but  showing  all  good  fidelity;  that  they  mav 


of  the  West- Lexington  Presbytery.     455' 

adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things." 
(See*  Eph.  6.  1.  Tim.  6.  and  Tit.  2.)  Christianity  ad- 
dresses every  man  in  the  relation  where  it  finds  him, 
and  exhorts  him  to  the  duties  arising  out  of  that  rela- 
tion; and  upon  the  faithful  performance  promises  him 
an  impartial  reward.  It  tells  him  "every  man  shall 
be  rewarded  according  to  his  own  work" — he  is 
therefore  exhorted  to  "abide  in  the  calling  wherein 
he  is  called."  It  interferes  not  with  earthly  govern- 
ments, with  political  institutions,  nor  civil  contracts. 
It  recognizes  not  the  rights  or  the  wrongs  of  civil  lib- 
erty, or  bondage.  All  these  are  of;"  infinitely  little 
moment,  when  compared  with  eternity.  It  tells  us, 
that  "godliness  with  contentment  is  great  gain;  that 
as  we  brought  nothing  into  this  world,  so  we  shall  car- 
ry nothing  out;  that  having  food  and  raiment  we  should 
be  therewith  content."  It  comes  to  improve  our  mor- 
al state,  nut  our  political,  orJy  by  consequence;  that  is, 
its  salutary  precepts  adopted,  and  brought  into  ope- 
ration,jwill  indubitably  lead  all  nations  to  equity  and 
peace,  to  harmony  and  happiness.  The  grand  de- 
sign of  the  gospel  is  to  ameliorate  the  state  of  human 
beings,  even  when  wickedness  abounds — when  innu- 
merable evils,  political,  civil,  and  moral  prevail.  It 
inculcates  that  temper  of  mind,  which  will  bring 
good  out  of  evil,  and  make  the  best  of  our  situation. 
Let  our  relation,  therefore,  be  what  it  may  in  this 
world,  whether  founded  in  righteousness  or  unright- 
eousness, in  equal  law,  or  in-oppression,  it  points  us 
how  we  may  mitigate  the  evil,  lessen  the  difficulty, 
■and  enjoy  the  greatest  happiness  of  which  cur  cir- 
cumstances are  cnpable.  We  see  then,  the  grand 
reason  why  willing,  and  faithful  obedience  are  so 
.strictly  enjoined  on  all  servants.  Be  ye,  therefore, 
honest  and  upright,  as  in  the  sight  of  your  Maker 
— your  situation,  neither  excuses  sabbath-breaking, 
lying,  stealing,  nor  adultery — crimes  of  which  you 
are  notoriously    guilty.      Remember   all-  these   are 


456  An  address  to  the  Churches  under  the  care 

breaches. of  the  law  of  God,  for  which  he  will  judge 
you  at  the  last  clay. 

Ycu  may  think  your  lot  is  hard.  But  you  have 
privileges,  which  few  in  the  world  enjoy  beside  your- 
selves— you  have  food  and  raiment;  here  you  stand 
on  a  level  with  your  masters.  You  have,  what  falls 
to  the  lot  of  few,  exemption  from  a  thousand  dis- 
tracting cares  and  anxieties,  which  prey  upon  others 
and  disturb  their  repose — you  risk  nothing  in  this 
world — have  nothing  at  stake — You  are  freed  from 
the  horrors  of  war,  and  all  the  toils  and  dangers  of 
military  life.  Be  contented  then,  with  your  lot;  be 
humble,  and  thankful  for  your  privileges,  for  you  are 
not  without  them.  Improve  them  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  he  will  own  and  bless  you,  "for  he  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons." 

Are  you  masters?  That  perfect  love  which  extends 
to  every  relation  in  life,  lays  down  your  duty  also. 
"Do  the  same  things  to  them,  forbearing  threaten- 
ing, knowing  that  your  master  also  is  in  heaven;  nei- 
ther is  respect  of  persons  with  him.  Masters  give  to 
your  servants  that  which  is  just  and  equal."  11  you 
Would  know  what  this  is,  bring  yourseh  es  to  that  ad- 
mirable rule  laid  down  by  Christ,  uAli  things  whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye 
even  so  unto  them;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the  pro- 
phets." Place  yourselves  in  the  state  of  your  ser- 
vants, and  then  ask  what  you  justly  deserve,  and 
what  you  have  a  right  to  expect.  You  will  answer, 
If  I  am"riV.ithiul,  1  deserve  not  threats — but  just 
and  merciful  treatment — sufficient  food  and  raiment, 
suitable  to  my  station — that  rest  and  refreshment 
which  the  law  of  God  and  of  the  land  allow  one — 
care,  attention  in  sickness — and  at  all  times,  a  due  re- 
gard to  the  interests  of  n.y  soul.  These  things  are 
what  every  man  of  common  sense  and  honesty  will 
admit.     You  have,  therefore,  masters  explained  your 


of  the  JVest- Lexington  Presbytery.     457 

own  duty  to  your  servants.  Thus  do,  brethren,  and 
you  will  fall  in  with  the  wholesome  admonitions  of  thr- 
word,  and  have  the  approbation  of  God,  and  a  good 
conscience. 

On  one  particular  here,  however,  allow  us  to  add 
a  little  more.  Your  slaves  should  be  taught  to  red 
the  holy  scriptures,  especially  those  who  are  young, 
and  get  such  other  religious  instructions  as  you  can 
give  them,  and  they  can  receive.  We  know,  in  some 
parts  of  the  country  they  will  not  be  admitted  into 
schools,  to  the  shame  of  a  christian  nation  let  it  be  told. 
From  what  principle,  we  ask,  can  they  be  excluded, 
seeing  they  are  permitted  to  mix  continually  in  the 
kitchen,  and  on  the  farm?  This  principle  cannot  be 
extracted  from  the  gospel;  but  must  be  sought  for 
amon^-  the  works  of  darkness.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, let  as  many  masters  as  live  contiguous  unite 
their  efforts,  and  employ  a  fit  person  to  teach  them 
for  at  least  one  year,  and  furnish  them  each  with  a  Bi- 
ble when  they  need  it.  Thus,  by  expending  a  few  dol- 
lars upon  every  one,  this  degraded  class  of  the  human 
race  maybe  made  acquainted  with  the  sacred  records 
■ — that  light  of  the  wo.  id  and  best  gift  of  God  to  man. 
Aid  hus  you  may  be  the  happy  instruments  of  eter- 
nal sabaiion  to  those  whom  the  providence  of  God 
has  placed  under  y'ctt. 

If  what  we  have  here  proposed  cannot  be  done,  you 
should  endeavour  to  have  it  accomplished  in  vour 
families,  or  in  some  other  way  if  not,  you  will  be 
guilty  in  his  sight,  who  regardeth  no:  the  person  of 
the  master  more  than  that  of  the  servant. 

As  far  as  it  is  practicable  bring  your  servants  to 
family  and  public  wovship;  and  pay  due  regard  to 
their  conduct  there.  Dear  brethren,  in  whatever 
sphere  you  aie  called  to  move,  live  and  act  as  in  the 
sight  of  him,  who  has  said,  "the  time  is  short,  that 
they  that  possess  be  as  ihou£u  they  possessed  not— 
Vox.  II,  P  p  2 


458  Review  of  Clarke's  Travels, 

and  they  that  use  this  world  as  not  abusing  it;  'or  the 
fashion  of  ihe  world  passeth  away." 

Thus  conducting,  you  and  they  may  be  one  in 
Christ  to  all  eternity,  "where  there  is  neither  Barba- 
rian, Scythian,  bond  nor  free;  but  Christ  is  all,  and  in 
all." 

To  be  continued. 


'    FROM  THE  CHRISTIAN  OBSERVER. 

REVIEW. 

Travels  in  various  Countries  of  Euro  fie,  Asia,  and  Af- 
rica. By  Edward  Daniel  Clarke,  LL.  D.  Part 
II.  Crecce,  Egyfit>and  Holy  Land.  Section  the  First. 
Cadell  and  Davies.   1812.  4to. 

Although  we  do  not  design  to  dwell  upon  the  ear- 
lier stages  of  the  traveller's  course,  we  shall  simply 
trace  out  his  route.  This  volume  then  discovers  him 
at  Constantinople.  He  goes  from  thence  by  water  to 
the  Dardanelles;  thence  to  Mount  Gargarus;  thence 
tails  down  the  Hellespont,  through  the  Straits  of  Scio 
and  Sam os,  to  Stanchio;  thence  passes  on  to  Rhodes; 
to  the  Gulf  of  Glaucus;  to  Egypt;  to  Rosetta  and 
Aboukir;  to  Cyprus;  to  Larncca;  to  Acre;  and,  by 
a  southern  route,  through  the  tribes  oi  the  Holy 
Land,  to  Jerusalem;  thence  westward  to  Jaffa,  or 
Joppa;  thence,  by  sea,  back  again  to  Acre,  where  this 
volume  leaves  him,  and  where,  we  apprehend,  the 
next  quarto  >olume,  at  the  rate  at  which  these  wag- 
gons of  literature  move,  will  in  due  season  take  him 
up.  He  embarked  at  Constamin<  pie,  March  1,  1801, 
and  landed  at  Acre,  from  JiifTi,  July  16,  of  the  same 
year;  a  space  of  time  long  enough,  perhaps,  for  a  tour 
on  the  Wye,  but  no*  for  a  scrutiny  of  the  Archipe- 
lago and  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean.   Considering  the  shortness  of  the  time,  we  are 


Review  of  darkens  Travels.  459 

indeed  astonished  at  the  mass  of  information  collect- 
ed by  the  author;  but  we  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  felt  less  of  this  surprise,  or,  in  other  words,  if 
his  time  had  been  better  proportioned  to  his  tour.  It 
is  a  happiness,  however,  that  in  almost  every  part  of 
his  expedition,  Dr.  Clarke  has  had  precursors  with 
more  leisure  upon  their  hands.  In  the  Holy  Land, 
especially,  the  tourists  are  innumerable.  A  sort  of 
individual  crusade  has  been  conducted  for  ages,  and 
the  spoils  have  been  carefully  conducted  to  Europe. 
What  Lord  Bacon  would  hive  noted  in  his  "Orga- 
num"  as  the  deficiency  in  this  department  of  litera- 
ture, is  nearly  such  a  work  as  that  now  supplied  by 
Dr.  Clarke;  a  work  condensing  the  matter,  a  'justing 
the  differences,  correcting  ihe  inaccuracies,  banishing 
the  superstitions  of  older  wi iters,  and  investing  the 
subject  with  those  graces  of  composition  which  might 
recommend  it  to  the  fastidious  ey<  s  of  modern  read- 
ers. The  present  work  is  not  sufficiently  profound 
to  accomplish  all  these  ends;  but  it  is  such  as  to  en- 
dow the  subject  with  high  interest,  and  in  great  mea- 
sure to  satisfy  the  laudable  curiosity  which  it  exeites. 
Chapter  XI II.  conducts  the  author  from  Acre  to 
Nazareth.  They  soon  crossed  the  river  Bt'tiis,  where 
Hercules  is  said  to  have  found  the  plant  colocasia, 
which  effected  the  cure  of  his  wounds;  and  whose 
sands,  we  are  told  by  Pliny,  were  first  employed  in 
the  manufacturing  of  glass.  They  also  passed  at  a 
small  distance  "that  ancient  river,  the  river  Kishon." 
Having  arrived  at  Shifhamer,  th  y  were  hospitably 
received  by  the  Agha,  and  dismissed  to  slei  p  on  the 
roof  of  the  house  for  fear  of  uihe  fltras/1  whose  spe- 
cific gravity,  however,  was  not  such  as  to  disable 
them  from  following  th  ir  \ictims.  They  next  en- 
tered that  part  of  Galilet  whi  h  belonged  to  the  tribe 
of  Ze  )ulon,  whence  is  u  d  "they  that  handled 
the  pen  of  ^the  wr>.  •.'* — *  rare  distinction  in  those 
days,  but  not  so  as  in  ours.     The   plain  was  cv^ry 


460  Review  of  Ckrke'' s  Travels. 

where  covered  with  spontaneous  vegetables  flourish- 
ing in  the  wildest  exuberance. 

The   state  of  religion  in  the    Holy  Land,  as  here 
sketched  by  the  author,  is  too  curious  to  be  omitted. 

"The  Druses,  concerning-  whom,  not  withstanding1  the  detailed 
account  published  by  Niebuhr  and  by  Volney,  we  have  never  re- 
ceived due  historical  information,  worship  Jonas,  the  prophets, 
and  "Mahomet.  They  nave  also  Pagan  rites.-  and  some  among 
them  certainly  offer  their  highesi  adoration  to  a  calf.  This  ac- 
count of  their  religion  wo  r> xer  td  from  a  sensible  ai  d  well-in- 
formed member  or  their  community.  The  worship  of  a  calf  is 
accounted  for  in  their  Egyptian  orgii  ;  the  remains  of  superstiti.  n, 
equally  ancient,  being  still  retained  in  that  country.  Although 
the  Vicinity  of  Mount  Libtmus  may  be  considered  as  ihe  residence 
of  the  main  horde  of  this  people,  sti  igglers,  and  detached  parties 
of  them,  may  be  found  in  every  part  of  the  H-dy  Land.  The  in- 
habitants of  Stphoury  are  genei  ally  Maronites;  yet  even  here  we 
found  some  Druses.  Those  of  Naz-«r.-t!i  are  Greeks,  Maronites, 
end  Catholics  Cana  of  Galilee  is  tenanted  by  Greeks  oni}  ;  so,  is 
the  town  of  Tiberias.  In  J  rusalem  there  a>*e  sects  of  every  de- 
nomination, and  perhaps  of  almost  every  religion- upon  earth.  As 
to  those who  call  themselves  Christians;,  in  opposition  to  the  Mos- 
lems, we  iound  them  divided  into  sects,  with  whose  distinctions 
we  were  often  unacquainted.  It  is  said  there  are  no  Lutherans; 
am1  if  we  add,  that  under  the  name  of  Christianity  every  degrad- 
ing superstition  and  profane  rite,  equally  remote  from  the  en- 
lightened tenet-  of  the  Gospel  and  the  dignity  of  human  nature, 
are-  professed  and  tolerated,  we  shall  afford  a  true  picture  of  the 
stat*  of  Society  in  this  country.  The  cause  may  be  easily  as- 
I  The  pure  Gospel  of  Christ,  every  where  the  herald  of 
it  ion.  and  of  science,  is  almost  as  little  known  in  the  Holy 
Land  as  in  California  or  New  Holland.  A  series  of  legendary 
traditions,  mingled  with  remains  of  Judaism,  and  the  wretched 
phantasies  of  illiterate  ascetics,  may  now  and  then  exhibit  a  glir  - 
rnering  of  heavenly  ligh',-  but  if  we  seek  forthe  blessed  effects  of 
Christianity  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  we  must  look  for  thi  t  period 
when  'the  desert  shall  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  the  v.ilderneas 
become  a  fruitful  field.'  "  p.  403. 

Tfce  following  brief  extract  cannot  fail  to  interest 
our  readers: 

"The  dress  of  the  Arabs,  in  this  part  of  the  Holy  Land,  and 
indeed  throughout  all  Syria,  is  simple  and  uui|brn>:  it  consists  of 
a  blue  shirt,  descending  below  the  knees,  the  iegs  and  feet  being 


Review  of  Clarke's  Travels.  461 

etposod,  or  the  latter  sometimes  covered  with  the  ancient  cothur- 
?:us,  or  buskin.  A  cloak  is  worn  of  very  coaise  and  heavy  camel's- 
hair  clotb,  almost  universally  decorated  with  bread  black-and- 
white  stripes,  passing-  vertically  down  the  back.-  this  is  of  one 
square  piece,  with  holes  for  the  arms:  it  has  a  seam  down  the 
back.  Made  vithout  this  seam,  it  is  considered  of  greater  value. 
Here,  then,  we  perhaps  beheld  the  f>rm  and  materials  of  our 
Saviour's  garment,  for  which  the  soldiers  cast  lots;  being  "wiiA- 
cut  seam,  woven Jrom  the  top  thrbu^hout.i>  "  p.  421, 

Oar  travellers  were  soon  assaulted  by  threats  of 
the  plague  in  almost  every  corner  of  the  country. 
This,  however,  did  not  prevent  their  entering  Naza- 
reth. Its  condition,  chiefly  through  the  tyranny  of 
its  ruler  Djezzar  Pacha,,  is  such  as  to  justify  (says 
Dr.  Clarke)  a  repetition  of  the  question — "Can  any 
good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth:"  The  description 
of  a  fountain  near  the  city  carries  us  back  to  the  first 
days  of  religion. 

"The  women  were  passing  to  and  fro  from  the  town,  with 
pitchers  upon  their  heads.  We  stopped  to  view  the  group  of  ca 
inch j  with  their  drivers,  who  were  there  reposing,  and  calling  to 
mind  the  manners  of  the  most  remote  ages,  we  renewed  the  soli- 
citation of  Abraham's  servant  unto  Rebecca,  by  the  well  of  Nahor. 
In  the  writings  of  early  pilgrims  and  travellers,  this  spring  is  de- 
nominated 'the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  Mar\ ;'  and  certainly  if  there 
be  a  spot,  throughout  the  Holy  Land,  that  was  und"iibttdly  hon- 
oured by  her  presence,  we  may  consider  this  to  have  been  the 
place."  p.  427. 

How  striking  also  is  the  following  picture. 

"  Scarcely  had  we  resched  the  apartment  prepared  for  our  re- 
cepcion,  when,  looking  from  the  window  into  the  cou.^^kbe- 
longing  to  the  house,  we  beheld  two  women  grinds:  ^^B  ^k'> 
in  a  manner  most  forcibly  illustrating   a  saying  of  ^M  ^r  s> 

In  the  centre  of  the  upper  stone  was  a  cavity  for  po^^^^^the 
corn;  and  by  the  side  of  this  an  upright  wooden  handle,  for  mov- 
ing the  stone.  As  the  operation  beg*n,  one-of  t  le  women,  with 
ner  right  hand,  pushed  this  handle  to  the  woman  opposite,  who 
again  sent  U  to  her  companion;  thus  communictaing  a  rotatory  and 
very  rapid  motion  to  the  upper  stone;  their  left  hands  being  all 
the  while  employed  in  supplying,  fresh  corn,  as  fast  as  the  bran 
and  flour  escaped  from  the  sides  of  the  machine."   p  428. 


'462  Review  qfGlarke^s  Travels. 

The  convent -of  Nazareth  is' said  to  be  built  ovt  : 
the  residence  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  whence  a  suppos- 
ed power  to  cure  the  plague  is  attributed  to  any  part 
of  its  waUs.  The  monks  also  pretend  that  the  arch 
of  the  door-way  is  self-suspended  by  a  continual  mi- 
racle, although  the  cheat  is  discoverable  to  every  eye. 
Dr.  Clarke  treats  this  and  the  whole  train  of  monkish 
imposture  with  honest  disdain.  How  sad  is  it,  that 
where  the  Gospel  should  have  made  its  way  amidst 
contending  faiths  by  the  omnipotence  of  truth,  its  own 
children  should  degrade  it  to  the  rank  of  the  lowest  of 
its  competitors!  Fables  may  adorn  aiabulous  religion, 
but  they  disfigure  and  pollute  a  true  one.  "  A  disbe- 
lief of  the  whole  mummery  (says  Dr.  Clarke)  is  best 
suited  to  the  feelings  of  Protestants,  who  are,  after 
all,  better  occupied  in  meditating  the  purpose  fcr 
which  Jesus  died,  than  in  assisting  by  their  presence 
to  countenance  a  sale  of  indulgences  in  the  place 
where  Joseph  is  said  to  have  resided."  The  pre- 
scriptive geography  of  the  monks  has  often  deterred 
i  travellers  in  the  sacred  land  from  attempting  any  cor- 
rection in  the  topography.  These  impostors,  for  in- 
stance, in  order  so  shew  upon  a  rock  the  impression 
of  our  Lord's  hand  when  he  leapt  from  the  brow  of 
the  bill  at  Nazareth,  whence  they  were  about  to  cast 
him  down,  have  actually  changed  the  site  of  the  au- 
cient  city.  Dr.  Clarke,  by  simply  following  the  map 
of  St.  Luke}  found  himself,  as  he  thinks,  on  the  pre- 
cise spot  where  our  Lord  "passed  through  the  midst 
of  a'hem."  We  shall  close  our  examination  of  this 
clorne  a  uwith  giving  a  picture  of  the  author's  dormi- 

"The  second  night  after  cur  arrival,  as  soon  a3  it  grew  dark, 
we  all  stretched  ourselves  upon  the  floor  of  our  apartment,  not 
without  serious  alarm  of  catching  the  plague,  but  tempted  by  the 
hope  ot  obtaining  a  little  repose.  This  we  found  impracticable 
the  night  before,  in  consequence  of  the  vermin.  The  hope  was, 
however,  vain*,. not  one  of  our  party  could  close  his  eyes.    Every 


Review  of l  Clarke \s  Travels*  463 

instant  it  was  necessary  to  rise,  and  endeavour  to  shake  off  the 
noxious  animals  with  which  our  bodies  were  covered.  In  addition 
to  tins  penance,  we  were  serenaded,  until  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  UoUt  we  had  fixed  for  our  departure,  by  a  constant 
ringug  of  die  chapel  bell,  as  a  charm  against  the  plague;  by  ilie 
barking  of  dogs,  braying  of  asses,  howLng  of  jatkalls,  and  by  the 
squalling  of  ebtldfen."  p.  440. 

In  Chapter  XIV.  we  have  the  author's  route  from 
Nazareth  to  Tiberias,  with  a  highly  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  last  named  city.  He  tkleft  Nazareth  at 
five  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning."  He  will  forgive 
us  for  asking,  v,  nether  it  was  not  a  point  of  some  im- 
portance for  a  Christian  to  shew  ihe  Jew  and  Maho- 
metan, that,  although  we  have  cha.ig.-d  the  day,  we 
have  not  lessened  the  sanctity  of  the  oaobath? 

Immediately  on  opening  the  chapter,  we  come  to 
the  following  important  note,  supplying  that  species 
of  incidental  evidence  to  the  Gospcio  winch  is  pecu- 
liar to  truth. 

"  We  came  in  view  of  Cana.  The  striking"  evidence  concerning 
the  disputed  situation  of  this  place,  as  it  is  contained  in  the  -vsuida 
of  the  request  made  by  the  ruler  of  Captrnaum  to  our  Saviour, 
when  he  besought  him  to  heal  his  sen,  only  proves  how  accurately 
the  writings 'of  the  Evangelists  correspond  v.  ith  tiie  geography 
and  present  appearance  of  the  country.  He  su,  plicate*  J*,  sus, 
who  was  then  at  Cana,  'that  he  would  came  down,  and  heal  his 
son,'  John  iv.  47.  "TJt  descendat,  et  veniat  Capernaum;  unde 
judic«ri  potest,'  observes  the  learned  Reland.  'Capernaum  in  in- 
feriori  regione  sitam  fuisse  quam  Canane.  Erat  autem  Caperna- 
um ad  mare-.'  How  singularly  this  is  confirmed,  b\  the  extraor- 
dinary features  of  this  part  of  Syria,  will  appear  in  the  description 
given  of  our  journey  from  Cana  towards  the  sea  of  Gahlee.  ic  the 
olst  verse  ot  the  same  chapter  ol  St.  John,  it  is  stated,  'A^^^s 
now  going  down  his  servants  met  him,'  His  wholej 
Cana,  according  to  the  position  of  the  place  now  soJ^ 


A  little  further  on  is  a  passage  not  less  interesting, 

"  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that,  walking  among  these  ruins,  we  saw 
large  malsy  stone  water-pots,  answering  the  description  given  of 
Uic  ancient  vessels  of  the  country;  not  preserved  nor  exhibited 


./ 


464  Jieview  of  Clar/ceys  Travels. 

as  relieves,  but  lying  about  disregarded  by  the  present  inhabi- 
tants, as  antiquities  with  whose  original  use  they  were  unac- 
quail. ted.  From  their  appearance,  and  the  number  of  them,  it 
was  quite  clear  that  a  practice  of  keeping  water  in  large  stone 
pots,  each  holding  from  18  to  27  gallons,  was  once  common  in 
this  country."  p.  445. 

The  next  spot  that  presents  itself  is  the  lake  of 
Gennesareth,  which  has  been  too  often  the  scene  of 
Christian  contemplation  to  suffer  us  to  pass  by  it. 

"The  lake  now  continued  in  view  upon  our  left.  The  wind 
rendered  its  surface  rough,  anJ  called  to  mind  the  situation  of 
our  Saviour's  disciples,  when,  in  one  of  the  small  vessels  which 
traverse  these  waters,  they  Were  tossed  in  a  storm,  and  saw  Je- 
sus, in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night,  walking  to  them  upon  the 
waves.  Often  as  this  object  has  been  painted,  combining  a  num- 
ber cf  circumstances  adapted  for  the  representation  of  sublimity, 
no  artist  has  been  aware  of  the  uncommon  grandeur  of  the  scene- 
ry memorable  on  account  of  the  transaction.  The  lake  of  Gen- 
nesareth is  surrounded  by  objects  well  calculated  to  heighten  the 
solemn  impression  made  by  such  a  picture;  and,  independent  of 
the  local  feelings  likelj  to  be  excited  in  its  contempl-tion,  affords 
one  of  the  most  striking  prospects  in  the  Holy  Land  It  is  by 
comparison  alone  that  any  due  conception  of  the  appearance  it 
presents  can  be  conveyed  to  the  minds  of  those  who  have  not  seen 
it;  and  speaking  of  it  comparatively,  it  may  be  described  as  longer 
and  finer  than  any  of  our  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland  lakt% 
although  perhaps  it  yields  in  majesty  to  the  stupendous  features 
of  Loch  Lomond  in  Scotland.  It  does  not  possess  the  vastness  of 
t  he  Lake'cf  Geneva,  although  it  much  resembles  it  in  particular 
points  of  view.  The  lake  oi  Locarno  in  Italy  comes  nearest  to 
it  in  point  of  picturesque  beauty,  although  it  is  destitute  of  Miy 
ihir.p-  similar  to  the  islands  by  which  that  majestic  piece  of  water 
js  adorned  It  is  inferior  in  magnitude,  and  perhaps  in  the  height 
of  ifs  surrounding  mountains,  to  the  lake  Asphaltites,-  but  its 
b'  ♦/\,  ^and  extended  surface,  covering  the  bottom  of  a  profound 
"oned  by  lofty  and  precipitous  eminences,  added  to  the 
a  certain  reverential  awe,  under  which  every  Chris- 
L  Approaches  it,  give  it  a  character  of  dignity  unparal- 

InPftlrfalJy  similar  scenery-"  p.  461. 

To  be  continued. 


X 


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